


A tale about a new beginning.... and some other stuff

by A_verySneakyNinja



Category: Septiplier - Fandom
Genre: Denial of Feelings, F/M, Felix is overprotective, M/M, Marks POV for most of the story..because reasons, Mystery, Slow Build, Somewhat steampunky, Steampunk AU, Supernatural - Freeform, and a little bit of a douche, first time writing a fic so please have patience with me, maybe a little bit of angst later in the fic, shifting emotions, wade doesn’t understand much but he tries, yup that’s it I think
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-25
Updated: 2018-11-09
Packaged: 2019-03-09 11:33:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 24,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13480623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_verySneakyNinja/pseuds/A_verySneakyNinja
Summary: When Mark moved down into the great port town of Avarum to start his first job he expected to earn some money, get a girlfriend and open his own tinkering shop. What he didn’t expect was to get immediately attracted to one of his co workers and for that very same person to invite him into a life changing project. He didn’t expect to be forced to solve a 700 year old mystery, get attacked by old crazy ladies, almost drown in a puddle and find out the reason his brother disappeared.All he wanted was a calm life, but that blue light that he saw, what was it really? And could it hold all the answers that he seeks?





	1. A new beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Heyo!
> 
> Thanks for giving this fic a chance. If you find it even remotely good please tell me and if you’re too scared to talk to me, remember that one kudos says more than a thousand words! (Even though I do like comments, talking is nice)
> 
> English isn’t my first language so I might make a lot of mistakes.
> 
> Last but definitely not least, let me just tell you that you are totally awesome just for checking in here, and even if you decide not to read I sure hope that you’ll have a nice day/night..whenever you’re reading this.
> 
> Welp, enough with me talking. I hope you enjoy :)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Introducing Mark and his jolly friends! *throws confetti everywhere*

A tiny light flickered between the dark buildings, reflecting in the shifting surface of the black water in the thousands of canals that coursed through the city of Avarum. There was a slight downpour making small droplets hit the coat of the lone man, creating a pitter patter. Suddenly a pipe materialized out of the dark, successfully knocking the light out of the mans grip and forcing a string of curse words out of him. As he bent down to up pick the thankfully still burning light a flash of blue flickered through the water painting the walls of the canal with a turquoise light.

The man, enchanted by the light, stared after it. Wonder in his eyes. What was it? As his mind started to race, trying to explain the phenomenon he heard a slight cough behind him. Heart immediately starting to pump harder he clenched his hands ans slowly turned around, lamp in front of him in a poor attempt at defense. As he looked back he thought that he saw a human shape disappear into a nearby alley, though it could’ve just been his adrenaline drugged mind playing tricks on him. Maybe the person was friendly? No, wouldn’t think so, and even if that was the case he certainly wasn’t planning on staying to find out.Uneasiness creeping up on him he gripped his light harder as he hurried away. Quickly disappearing into the many alleys of the city.

He carried on for a couple streets more, passing shaded bridges and shady people that stared after him, clearly noticing the floof of red hair that decorated his head. He felt slightly nervous of the curious, and sometimes hostile, glances and he pulled the coat higher around his neck.

As he continued on his thoughts wandered back to the strange light. He tried to convince himself that it was merely some strange new invention that the steampunk city had invented. His senses however, told him differently. Maybe... the thought was quickly interrupted when the hard cobblestone street vanished from beneath him. Cursing he flailed with his arms and would’ve fallen into the black water had it not been for the nearby old styled street lamp that offered a convenient, if not steady, salvation.

The man heaved himself back onto the dimly lit street and abruptly decided against any further pondering on the origins of the light. Shrugging he looked around, trying to get himself oriented again. A golden number in an old curly style glimmered back at him.

The man couldn’t believe his eyes. Through some absurd touch of luck he had ended up at his apartment on a whim. After double checking his papers both once and twice he confirmed that this was indeed the entrance to apartment nr 29. Shaking his head in amazement he pulled out the glistening key adorned with old curly patterns in what resembled a celtic knot. Humming on an old tune he turned the key and walked into his new, dry, home.

—————————————————————————————————————————————

Mark let out a long sigh as he entered the apartment. Many emotions swirled inside of him, fear, doubt, but mostly joy. He had finally done it. He had gotten a job in the city and been given the chance to leave the old countryside that was The Highlands.

After doing a little dance of joy he stuffed away his lantern and his other things as he examined the small room. It was pretty ordinary. A small hat stand to the left with 3 hangers beneath. A black carpet with brown swirly patterns following the edges covered large parts of the dark brown floor. Two pairs of shoes were carelessly left on the floor and one bag adorned with the swirly patterns and clockworks so common to the steampunk was laid out on the tiny black oak bench. A few cog wheels started turning when he entered the area supplying the room, and supposedly the rest of the apartment, with energy.

The apartment that Mark rented wasn’t really an apartment as it was more of a flat connected to a house in which a few more people lived. They had their own living quarters but shared everything else.

Being the adorable dork that he is Mark was excited to meet his new house mates but imagined that none of them would be overly dashed to see him 4 in the night. Smiling to himself he shook his head and shed his coat leaving it hanging on the one empty hanger before trotting into the house, flicking lights on wherever he went.

Work started in the morning and Mark figured he should get some sleep. However, as often happens, his mind thought otherwise. Pumping his brain full with plans, ideas and fears. Sitting down in the middle sized kitchen he took out the tools he always carried with him, cog wheels, screws, metal scraps and started tinkering mindlessly.

——————————————————————————————————————————-

Mark awoke to two hands in the middle of the process of pushing him out of his chair. Muttering something groggily he tried to shove back but was held still by two heavy hands.

“Better let Felix have his seat before someone gets a free coffee shower” the voice that belonged to the hands said.

At last Marks brain caught up and mumbling an apology he moved away from the chair that apparently belonged to this ‘Felix’.

“No need to apologize, he won’t accept it anyway”

A huge man sat down opposite Mark, sunlight falling on features that made the man look way more approachable than his size let on.

“Wade” The man smiled reaching one big hand over the table in a greeting. Mark took it and in a slightly hoarse voice answered “Mark”.

Wade, interpreting the exchange as an invitation, continued

“I see that you’re from The Highlands”

Surprised by the correct assumption Mark let out a low laugh.

“That’s right, what gave me away?”

“First of all, your eyes” Wade smiled “only Highlanders sport brown eyes”.

“Then, you’re one as well?” Mark retorted only just now realizing that the other man had eyes not unlike his own.

At that Wade chuckled, visibly relaxing. “Yeah, I was born in Sylvan, lots of savage cows there. Lost my hand to one of them” he said waving around his left hand that Mark now saw was made out of copper plating and wires. The text ‘killed by cows’ engraved in it.

Mark chuckled, relaxing as well “still don’t get what the gods were thinking creating those. In my village we had giant ravens. Lost my arm to their boss” he flexed his plated and wired arm “gave him a good scar for it though”.

“Yeah right, you guys sure are heroic. But if the gentlemen please. Let me drink my coffee in peace”

Startled Mark and Wade looked to the end of the table where a very disgruntled Felix sat, sad eyes eying his now cold brew.

“You two are too big for this apartment, can’t drink when I have to keep dodging your arms”

The two men just blinked at the blue eyed man, then slowly turned to each other....and burst out laughing. This made the blonde man cringe, too grumpy to join in.

After the laughter stilled, Wade, still chuckling, dramatically put out a hand and said

“This grumpy little man is Felix. A highborne. That means he lives, or rather lived, on a mountain. You can see it on his eyes. Highborne usually have grey eyes, but Felix is some strange special breed. He’s a mystery. At least he says so himself”

Hearing that Mark put up an eyebrow in surprise “It’s quite uncommon for highborne to come down here” the highborne were, if possible, even poorer than the highlanders. Either that or royalties, spending their days in luxury homes. Neither of them went down to the harbours very often. For two completely different reasons of course.

Felix actually shifted a little at the statement. “My family sold everything so that I could go” he finally mumbled.

Schocked at his own stupidity Mark mumbled an apology to which Felix only smiled goofily “no probs, bro. People ask that often”

Still feeling a little bad Mark was about to apologize again, but a strong voice caught the words in his throat. “Glad to see you guys bonding and all, but Bob’s gonna flip if we’re late.

As coincidence had it all of them worked in the same ‘Bobs clockwork and tinkering shop’. Though Mark aspired to get out as soon as possible and open his own Tinker shop.

“Alright, alright. Let’s go then” Felix stretched and went for the door, all coffee problems apparently forgotten. Chuckling Mark stood up and followed Wade out into the dazzlingly bright morning, not bothering to put on his coat.

  
————————————————————————————————————————

  
The shop wasn’t very big. In fact Mark wondered if this ‘Bob’ really had use of 4 workers (yes, apparently there was a fourth mysterious worker, Felix wouldn’t shut up about him).

That being said. Mark was absolutely enamoured with the tiny shop. It had everything a tinkerer could wish for. The whole shop area of the boutique went in brown, blue and gold. The floor was made of dark brown planks sometimes snuggled under golden and navy blue carpets. The walls were a metallic copper hue (obviously since they were made out of the very same metal). A round window in the leftmost top of the room filtered in light in which dust calmly floated, settling on the various shelves that were placed out in the shop in a careful and precise fashion. There was also a small resting area for the visitors, snuggled in under some pipes and clockworks to the right. A small window lighted up a blue sofa and an armchair with lion feet. There were some red flowers on the table and Mark quickly noted that they were beautiful before barely holding himself back from rushing the shelves to inspect the multitude of knowns and unknowns that littered it.

Shifting back and forth he barely kept up with Felix and Wade that walked towards the workers area behind the, oh so glorious air ship miniature and the mechanical hat that laid neatly placed on the glass desk beside the humongous industrial style cash register.

Wade swatted his hand away when Mark tried to grab the mechanical hat and then the bubble maker and the self destructing protection vest. He simply couldn’t keep his hands off of even the most obviously dangerous things.

When Mark finally got a hold of the scuttle bug Felix and Wade just laughed and let him keep it, they just couldn’t stand his puppy eyes Mark stated, it was because it was broken anyway they said, he argued back but that just made them laugh more and giving in to the good feeling in his gut Mark followed suit.

The workers area consisted of basically four rooms. A workshop that side kicked as a storage room/meeting room with a large, like really large, working table in wood in the middle, one end facing the large semicircle window overlooking the harbour. Oh yeah. Felix and Wade never mentioned but the shop was like crazy near the harbour and Mark could feel the smell of salt through the whole shop. It was quite pleasant.

The other rooms were a bathroom, a kitchen and an office. Wade and Felix didn’t tell him where each one was though and as they went straight for the door to the right on the other side of the room Mark decided that he wanted to explore. He left his friends to their fate and even though he knew it was stupid and dumb he sneaked into the rightmost door.

It was not very exciting. A cramped room with golden pipes visible meeting sharp white and blue tiles opened up to him. There was a nice little white porcelain sink with golden handles right by the doorway. Above it a round mirror was hung and to the left was a white toilet. Shrugging Mark closed the door and went over to the next one. This time on the same wall that the door Wade and Felix disappeared through was. As he reached out and opened the door it literally felt like his breath was punched out of him.

Sunlight filtered through the large window wrapping the whole kitchen in glorious white, magnifying the colours and shining on green hair. Before Mark stood the most beautiful man alive. Warm sun shone on pale skin painting it a warmer shade of pink. Green hair accented the incredibly blue eyes that like the ocean seeked to pull him down. A light pink dusted the pale mans cheeks as he, as surprised as Mark, glanced up and met his eyes. Right that moment the whole world seemed to freeze and Mark could feel his pulse speed up. What the heck?

At the very same moment Felix thought the right time to crash through the door that Mark had gently closed behind him, efficiently destroying the spell with his shouting.

“Mark! What the he....oh hey bro”

The pale man shook himself, trying to wake himself up before answering, a slight accent to his voice.

“ hey Felix, what’s up with ye coming bargin in like th’at”

Felix just shrugged.

“ This bastard here is trying to fuck us all up, sneaking away all on his own”

“Hehe, really? He seems nice enough though”

“Then you don’t know him”

Mark tried to protest, but the blue eyed tornado that was Felix was already pulling him out the door with way more force than required.

Oddly enough Felix didn’t kick him straight into the office and instead dragged him out into the still closed customer area. There he abruptly let go of his wrist, successfully causing Mark to lose both balance and dignity as he flailed his arms to keep from face planting. Already a couple rough words on his tongue Mark angrily looked back at the man. But his anger quickly faded before the sight of the Highborne that stared at him, arms crossed and eyes stone cold.

“So. You enjoying the sights, huh?” The words were light but Mark could literally feel the sarcasm lacing the words.

A blush forming on his cheeks he defensively stuttered

“N-no” he straightened himself before continuing, adding weight to his words “I don’t swing that way”.

Felix eyed him a little too suspiciously for his liking but after staring into Marks eyes for a full minute he let out a long sigh and leaned back onto the counter behind him, visibly relaxed.

“That’s great. Cuz y’see. Jacks a little special and I can’t have him running away with some random dude.”

“Well, It’s quite possible that he doesn’t swing that way either” Mark lamely tried to retort.

Felix just shrugged

“Could be any way around. It still wouldn’t be possible”

Mark thought to ask why. But decided against it when he saw the serious expression that Felix wore. To make matters worse the sound of two pair of shoes quickly approaching made Marks heart clench in an uncomfortable way.

As Wade and the one who was supposedly this ‘Bob’ came through the door, Bob uttered the exact words Mark was feeling.

“Well, what a fantastic way to start”

 


	2. Memories of the past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The second appearance of the blue light!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!

In the end Bob didn’t make a big deal out of it and after a quick warning he put Mark at work. The ‘oh so glorious’ work of sorting cog wheels.

As Mark sat at the large work table, an army of boxes and a mountain of cog wheels in front of him he was contemplating the importance of door locks when someone entered the room. Not daring to look up he focused on the gears. He didn’t know how often Bob left the office but it couldn’t be Felix because he was buying supplies and Wade was at the counter.

Before Mark could think about the last possible person someone sat down opposite him. He dared a glance and peeked up behind his cog wheel mountain.

Two pale hands moves quick and precise. Cutting wires and shaping steel with the swiftness of years of practice. Mark didn’t realize that he was staring until two ocean blue eyes met his earth brown. God was he jealous of the highborne that could have such beautiful eyes.

When Mark didn’t interrupt his staring into the other mans eyes he shifted uncomfortably and cleared his throat.

“um, anyone t’ere?”

That woke Mark up and feeling quite embarrassed he rubbed the back of his neck, a blush steadily growing. Why, oh why, did he have to be such a creep?

The man just looked at him, uncertainty shining out of every inch of his body. That’s when Mark realized that he hadn’t answered. Shrinking a little he said

“Sorry”

“’s okay.”

When it was obvious that the conversation wasn’t going anywhere the other man shifted and after a moments hesitation put his hand out in a greeting 

 “‘m Jack”

Mark deeply appreciated the other mans patience with the stumbling mess that he was and for the first time after having been caught staring looked up into the other mans eyes and took his hand. It was cold but really really soft

“Mark”

He was awarded with a bright smile. Encouraged he carried on with his dialogue.

“I-I’m sorry. Before. I didn’t mean to. It’s just that...”

Jack was waiting. Mark could see it in all of his body language, but he simply couldn’t say it. He wasn’t homosexual, he was sure of it, so he couldn’t give Jack the wrong impression by saying how beautiful his eyes were or how he got the urge to hold those slender hands and warm them. His gaze wandered down to the other mans pink lips and anxiety washed over him.

“I’m sorry”

He couldn’t take it. Mark raised himself so hastily that he hit the lamp with his head. Cursing he rubbed the sore spot and met Jacks eyes. Why? Just why the hell did he have to be so gorgeous? No, just no. He couldn’t do this. He was having a bad day, that’s all.

Mark swiftly turned around and ran out the door. Completely missing the way the highborne blushed deeply.

————————————————————————————————————————

The next few days Mark called in sick and slept most of the time. He knew what he was doing was shitty. He risked his job and with that literally his whole future. The very same future that his parents had given up everything to make come true. The angst kept him in bed as ghosts from his past visited him.

Despite how he always joked about his lost arm it hurt. It hurt so much. The giant ravens that had terrorized his village had taken and killed many of the villagers. He had seen families crushed and happy realities smashed to pieces.

His own bubble had been popped when he was about 12 and his brother one day didn’t return from the fields. The villagers thought him lost as they had seen ravens circling the area. Mark however, didn’t believe them.

He often said that he had fought the ravens boss bravely. But the reality was that he one late night had snuck out to search for his brother. He had known that he couldn’t possibly fight the ravens, they were too dangerous. He just couldn’t do it anymore. Waiting by the window for his brother to come home and seeing his family grow sadder and sadder each passing minute was torture.

So he had done something incredibly stupid. He had taken a small pole and gone out into the dark fields.

They say that birds don’t fly when it’s dark out and Mark had believed them, going out without any protection equipped.

He remembered it so well. How the grass and dirt had smelled, how the light breeze had caressed his skin and how he had seen the lights of the great harbours spreading out like a starry sky beneath him. Beyond the lights lay the black waters of ‘The Worlds end’ sea and above him space stretched out into eternity.

Enchanted by the beauty he had continued walking towards the fields where his brother had disappeared.

However. When he reached the fields he never found him. Black shapes had materialized from the sky and fell upon him mercilessly. He had tried to fight back but he never stood a chance.

When the villagers found him the day after his wounds were wrapped but he missed an arm. No one knew what had happened, but from that day forward Mark had stopped waiting for his brother.

Marks story had a somewhat happy ending, but he could still feel the beaks thrashing his flesh, ripping it apart. The memory of the ravens red, blood crazed eyes were still plastered on his inner eye. Nothing could remove it and as time went by Mark had started to get used to his nightmares. So when he awoke screaming and covered in sweat he felt hurt all down into the deepest parts of his heart. ‘Damn, I thought I had gotten over this’ he thought panting as he still shaking sat up on his bed. Heart beating wildly Mark looked through the lone round window in his room and was met with a setting sun caressing his cheek and painting his small room a beautiful orange.

The effect was immediate and as a calm settled over him Mark got an irresistible urge to go outside.

Before the thought was even fully formed he could feel his feet moving him towards the door and out into the busy streets of a city on its way home from work. For a moment Mark simply watched the motley bunch of people in ridiculously high top hats or funny looking dresses of older kind walk past. A red haired girl wearing brown shorts and a grey tank top ran past carrying a large flower vase. Mark watched her disappear into the crowds, intrigued, before shaking his head and continuing down the street, clumsily navigating through the mass of people.

Mark didn’t particularly like the ocean, he actually quite hated it, so he didn’t go down to the harbours. He also didn’t want to bump into Felix, Bob or Wade. He was ‘sick’ today after all.

Instead he made his way through the many nooks and crannies of the city.

The city of Avarum was the pearl of the steampunk ports. It’s focus on craftsmanship rather than industries left it blissfully rid of smog. The many canals that coursed through the city were a brilliant blue instead of the usual green and the many pipes and vents that supplied the city with gas and water were all artfully crafted and placed in a seemingly random but still gorgeously planned fashion. Small steamboats navigated the larger canals and big ships rested in the harbour. The whole city was always filled with merry sounds of people chattering, steam whistles tooting and the clatter of toys and new inventions being made in the many tinkering shops.

The smaller canals where Mark wandered were quieter. These were sleepier quarters of the city and from the beautifully shaped balconies hang flowers in every colour of the world. A couple of steam driven gondolas bobbed sleepily next to a small stair leading to the deep blue water.

He was standing on a small stone bridge watching the sun set over the city. As the shadows grew longer the old street lamps flicked on, spreading a circle of golden light around them.

There was a tiny plateau at the bottom of the bridge and before his thoughts caught up with him Mark climbed down onto it. As the world turned a deeper shade of blue and stars started to light up in the sky Mark sat down and touched the almost black water. It felt cool to the touch and he let out a small yawn as his body relaxed.

He didn’t want to go home. It felt so good. But Felix and Wade was going to be worried sick about him. The thought sobered Mark up somewhat but just as he was starting to stand up a flicker of blue light caught his eye.

A turquoise light moved through the black water. As Mark watched it the ball of light flickered back and forth through the water. It looked like it was searching for something. Slowly it moved closer towards where Mark sat, seemingly not having noticed him yet.

Mark dared not breathe as the little being inched closer and closer. He could distinguish a small tail attached to the round form. Inside of the little sphere that seemed like scarcely anything more than a very good hologram something solid floated. It seemed to be the thing emitting the turquoise light that followed the ball around.

Carefully Mark inched forward, desperately wanting to solve the riddle that was this mysterious being. The ball had yet to notice him, too busy searching, and Mark got just about close enough to recognize the solid part as a gem, more specifically an aquamarine.

The discovery amazed him. Aquamarines were extremely rare and were thought to possess strange abilities. They were deep sea gems and were most commonly found in deep sea grottos. Sometimes you could find them washed up on the shore, but those gems were more often than not tainted and only served as jewelry. The gems were incredibly rare. However, there was an old legend of a sea kingdom at worlds end. It was said to be made out of the most clear gems and ores ever sighted. In fact it was so brilliant that when the supreme moon rose from the ocean it would reflect in the spires of the crystal kingdom and the ocean would light up as if made from pure stars. At that occurrence the legends told you to run into the tallest lighthouse in the harbour and present a clear aquamarine to the moon. If you did that a path made of stars would open up to you. Leading the way to paradise.

Mark had loved this tale of the deep sea kingdom and had often asked his mother what the supreme moon was. She always answered that it was the full moon or that she didn’t know. But Mark had still gone out every evening to watch the moon rise. Always searching for the crystal kingdom.

He no longer believed in the tale but when he saw the gem he couldn’t help but remember and found himself wondering ‘what could this creature be, to posses such a brilliant gem?’ and more importantly, what was it doing here?

He had lost focus and suddenly Mark felt a gaze lingering on him. Looking down he came eye to eye with a strange little being.

The ball was floating only inches away from him, it’s lone eye staring him down. It actually wasn’t much more, he realized. It was a literal eyeball that was staring at him. Oddly enough Mark wasn’t repulsed by the creature but instead intrigued.

The eyeball looked as shocked as an eyeball could and for a second it was completely frozen in place, bobbing up and down in the black water.

The mutual silence continued as the two stared at each other. Then suddenly something akin to recognition registered in the eyeball and the light that had dimmed upon being discovered came back in a flash. Blinded Mark stumbled backwards, hitting his head on the bridge. When his sight cleared from the dancing dots the little guy was gone.

Confused, Mark watched the empty canals. Had it just been a weird dream? Disappointment welled up inside of him at the thought and for a moment he just stayed where he was. Silently hoping for something, anything, to prove him wrong.

However. Nothing came and soon he had to leave. His pants were soaked from sitting on the wet stone and when he climbed out from the canal and onto the bridge a cold breeze made him shiver.

Suddenly the whole place seemed so...empty and cold. Letting out a large sigh Mark pushed his hands inside his pockets and started to walk home.

 


	3. Le shortest chapter featuring a love sick Mark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mark finds a bar, meet the girl of his dreams, pull an all nighter and arrive late to work (again). All in about 905 words

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy :) I’m thinking of actually getting some structure and start to update once every week. Schools a bitch right now, but I have at least 3 chapters done. So expect regular updates every Wednesday for the following 3 weeks at least.
> 
> Man am I excited over this. The plot is still in the first stages but I’m aiming to get it rolling soon. Theories about the plot are always welcome, it’s a mystery fic after all.
> 
> Oh, and since this chapter is so short I might do you a special service and add another chapter tomorrow

The sound of music and laughter from a nearby pub made Mark stop dead in his tracks. Right beside him was a doorway from which warm orange light filtered out onto the street. Through the windows he could glimpse the sight of people dancing and drinking as a tone deaf band played outdated songs that their blue haired singer, that seemed quite drunk, made a show of as he danced around on the stage.

“The jolly mermaid” was written in cursive on a sign right above his head and flower pots made it next to impossible to enter.

To Mark there was no more homely place at the moment and after checking his wallet he decided to join the merry bunch

 

————————————————-

The smell of food being cooked and the sound of laughter and firewood crackling instantly filled Marks heart with a comfortable warmth. He wasn’t planning on getting to know anyone tonight and instead of joining the merrily chattering people in the seating area made a beeline for the bar.

Now, of course, Mark couldn’t drink so he just ordered some fries and sat down on one of the bar stools. There he stayed quiet as he waited and soaked in all of the homely sounds around him. He wasn’t planning on talking to anyone tonight and definitely wasn’t expecting anyone to make contact with him. So easy to say, he actually jumped a little as a woman’s voice addressed him

“So, ya just gonna sit ‘ere all alone all night or...? A little shaken Mark looked to the right and saw the face of the flower pot girl grinning at him over a glass of beer. Red frilly hair and merry green eyes gazed into his and he could feel a blush making its way up his neck.

“N-no. I’m just waiting for my fries.” He mumbled and looked down at his hands, nervously fidgeting with the hem of his shirt. This girl was totally his type and seeing as she was so friendly he would guess that she was free. Deciding to try and at least get to know her better he mustered up some courage and asked “Yourself? What brings you here this late night?

At the end of his sentence he gesticulated dramatically before smiling at her. The girl let out a happy laugh and smiled

“Oh ya know. Just picking up some hot guys, y’know what I mean.” She made a suggestive wink and nudged him lightly with her elbow. “Oh, don’t look so embarrassed. I’m just jokin’ with ya”

Mark must’ve looked stunned, because soon the girl chuckled and leaned onto the counter. “M’ Kim by the way. Finally getting his wits back Mark smiled at the funny pose Kim was making and mimicking her answered “Mark. Pleased to meet you”

“No need to be so formal ma friend, ya can speak ta me however ya want.” Kim smacked him repeatedly on the back making Mark cough. Hungry for revenge he smiled and put on his best pirate face. “Right. Howdy ma swashbuckling comrade. Reel the sails and slam the bottle we gonna paaaarty tanight.

“Haha, what tha hell kinda dialect was that s’pposed to be? Lemme tell ya, one of ma big brothers ‘s a sailor ‘o tha great sea. He taught me lots ‘o words but t’at never was any ‘o them.” She laughed. “So what ‘m saying is. You. Ma sweet baby. Are a liar and a pirate and will be heading for tha gallows next sunrise”

“Wait, that isn’t fair” Now Mark was laughing, his words coming out in short wheezes. “It is ma boy. Lemme tell ya why...”

The evening continued in the same fashion and as bands came and went and the various guests slowly filtered out until there was only the two of them, some tired workers and a couple shady drunks left.

It was when the staff changed to new fresh morning shift workers and less shady guests started to filter in for breakfast that Mark actually noticed what time it was. Across from him Kim slept, head on the counter, red hair spilling everywhere and some drool dripping from her mouth. Her arms were hanging straight down and she didn’t look very beautiful. To anyone but Mark that is. He thought that she was absolutely gorgeous.

But the staff kept throwing them strange glances and as the time started to really become a pressing issue he found himself with no choice but to wake Kim up.

Carefully he put his hands on her shoulders and gently shook her to life. She opened her eyes and as she met his a lazy smile spread across her face. “Yo, already mornin huh?”

“Yes” Mark smiled at the way she wrinkled her nose and as she sat up he started to move, ordering her a glass of water before turning to her. “I have to go. Boss is going to get angry (okay, more like upset) if I’m late.”

Kim barely nodded, already starting to fall asleep again. “I’ll se you around. Here on Saturday?....If you wanna meet that is” He hurried to add. He didn’t want her to feel like she had to.

Kim nodded again and gave him a sleepy smile and a double thumbs up. “See ya”

Mark nodded hurriedly and shot her a quick smile before hurrying out the door and out onto the bustling streets of Avarum.


	4. A new project and a totally platonic coffee date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mark gets ditched, joins a mysterious project and goes on a totally platonic coffee date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, here comes the next chapter as promised. A lot of things happened today and I feel really burnt out as a perfectly fine day crashed, because of that it’s not proofread and there may be a lot of mistakes. Well, you’re not here to listen to me complaining. Next chapter will be out next Wednesday.
> 
> Enjoy!

“Aand here he comes. 5 minutes late. Classy Mark.”

Felix and Wade were lazying by the counter as a breathless Mark ran through the door.

“You’re lucky though. Bobs not here today so he won’t have to know”

“Wait a sec. Are you trying to blackmail me?”

“Maybe.” Felix shrugged and Wade laughed at Marks dumbfounded expression. “But I thought you were my friends!”

“In your fantasies, bro.” Now Wade was laughing his ass of and it was clear that Felix was trying his utmost not to join him, judging by the smirk that was steadily making its way onto his face.

“You guys are really bad friends, you know that right?” Felix dismissed the words with a wave of his hand. “Sure sure, but your seniors demands a rest and you need to make up for your late arrival.”

“It was 5 minutes!”

“That’s 5 minutes too late. Wades gonna show you your next job.” Wade looked surprised so Mark asked “And you?”

“I’m gonna stay right here.”

“...” “You’re an asshole.”

“I know” Mark didn’t know what to do. He had gotten way less sleep than needed because of the bar and now his patience was quickly running out. He opened his mouth to throw something back at the bossy highborne but Wade stopped him, whispering. “Believe me, it’s not worth it.”

That made Mark shut up and as he grumpily started to follow Wade into the back of the shop he asked. “What’s eating his arse? He’s got no reason to be so inconsiderate.”

Wade tensed a little but answered in a carefree tone. “I could say the exact same to you.” Before he had time to answer Wade stopped and turned around, facing Mark and asking in a more strained voice “where were you yesterday?”

Mark was absolutely ,and really not justifiably so, baffled by the question. What was he supposed to answer? Y’know how I said that I was sick? Yeah, I lied and instead went to pick up hot chicks, we’re still friends right? There was no friggin way that he could tell the truth. “w-well, you know. I was... I had to”

“y’know what? I understand that you want to keep secrets from us. And that’s totally fine. But please tell me. Are you getting into any shady business?”

“What? No! Where did you get such a ridiculous thought from?” He was so relieved that he could scream out in joy. They didn’t know anything. Wade on the other hand looked as if at a loss for words and Mark felt a little bad for laughing at his concern. “Look, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you yesterday. But just trust me on this. I’m not doing any shady business.”

“Right.”

He still didn’t look completely convinced but when Mark threw his arm over Wades shoulder he chuckled “ I’ll try to calm Felix down. I swear he’s thinking that you’re some kind of drug dealer or mafia.”

Mark laughed at the absurdity of the thought and playfully hit Wade with his elbow while grinning “I’m counting on you”

“Sure, but we’re here now. I gotta go but your instructor for today is inside.” .. “Seriously, Felix’s gonna hate me for this.” Wade hurriedly said, adding the last part in a low whisper.

As Mark waved goodbye he couldn’t help but suspect that he knew who it was that waited for him and he took a deep breath before grabbing the door handle and entering.

———————————————————————————————————————————

Early morning light filtered through the rectangular window, shining on a desk decorated with neatly placed papers and a strange tree like plant. The office was quite small but the pastel green that decorated the walls and the golden pipes that were visible throughout the area made it seem like the largest room in the house.

By the desk a green haired man sat, sipping on some coffee from a mug with ‘speed is key’ printed on it in flashy letters. He had his legs thrown up on the desktop and didn’t seem to mind the small statue that was inches from toppling off the edge.

When Mark entered he at first didn’t look up, probably expecting him, Mark guessed. But as he softly cleared his throat and Jack looked up at him pure surprise registered in his face. The pale man actually did a double take before somewhat disorderly scrambling to sit straight in his chair. In the process he managed to kick down the poor statue and Mark managed to grab it just before it hit the fluffy carpet.

“Man, I really embarrassed meself t’ere.”

It was no more than a whisper and Mark wasn’t quite sure that he had heard right. But as he looked up at Jack he realized what position he was in, crouched on the floor statue still in his hand, and swiftly stood up, blushing slightly and not quite managing to meet Jacks eyes.

Jack stopped the fidgeting with a dismissing wave with his hand and smiled, although a little nervously. “So. What’re ye doing ‘ere?”

“What?” Mark was at a loss for words. Wasn’t Jack supposed to give him orders? What strange plan had Wade cooked up this time?

“Ye don’t know yerself? Well then, I bet Felix and Wade dumped ye here fer some puny reason. T’ey were going ta help me with t’is new project y’see. But since they’re not ‘ere...want ta help me?” He couldn’t believe it. One of the top workers (apparently Jack was just that) was asking him to help. It was like a dream come true! Not wanting to look too eager he withheld his puppy eyes and girly squeal for a more manly but still ridiculously bright smile.

As he met his eyes Jack relaxed and chuckled at Mark that was almost bouncing off the walls with excitement as he followed him out into the workshop.

Jack walked over to a couple of shelves and pulled out something that he carried back over to Mark. It was small and cube formed. Wires stuck out in several directions and in the middle of the device was a small diamond shaped hole. “This is a power transformer right!?” He could barely hold back his glee and admiration for the other man.

“You built this yourself?!” Jack actually looked a little embarrassed and averted his eyes.

“ye. I made it.” Now Mark was even more curious. What was Jack going to do with a power transformer and how could he help? Jack seemed to have noticed Marks curiosity and smiling brightly he explained.

“Ye know how there are t’ese different power gems here? They range from tha weakest, ruby, citrine and emerald to tha stronger onyx, sapphire and diamond.” Mark merely nodded. Of course he knew that, it was basic engineering knowledge. What was Jack getting at?

“Well, y’see. I’m workin’ on a special project. But ta finish it I need a strong power source. Stronger than a diamond.”

“A clear aquamarine.”

“Ye, exactly. Tha case so ‘appens that I’ve found an aquamarine. But it’s foggy and I need help ta create and plan tha final parts ta clear it up,”

Amazing. This guy actually planned to clear an aquamarine. The science wasn’t that new but it was both hard and expensive to create the machines needed to cleanse an aquamarine. Mark was absolutely delighted. “So, what are you going to make when you get the aquamarine cleared?”

Jack looked quite taken aback by the question and avoided Marks gaze as he mumbled “I-I can’t tell ye. I promised a special someone ta never say. But I really need help. So if ye still wa...”

Mark interrupted him there. Flinging an arm over the slender mans shoulders, promptly ignoring his own heartbeat. “Of course I’m going to help you! We’ve all got our secrets and besides, this is like the best moment in my life!” He exclaimed. Throwing his arms out in a dramatic gesture. Jack chuckled before playfully nudging him with his elbow. “We better get ye ta work t’en”

“Yeah! “

Mark shoved his hands into his pockets, trying to keep them from fidgeting in excitement but as he put down his hands one of them hit something round and cold. The scuttle bug. He had almost forgotten about it. He thought about telling Jack about his find but seeing that he looked quite busy going around picking out all kinds of stuff and putting it on the table Mark left the thought for another day. He didn’t even know the guy that well anyway.

————————————————————————————————————————

“So, which part do you want me to create, exactly?”

They stood leaned over the multitude of drawings that they had accumulated during the day. Now the sun was setting and as the red light started to fade Jack had gone around lighting all the lamps in the workshop. The thing they were building was surprisingly small and so complicated that he had gotten lost somewhere in the middle of it. What they had before them now resembled a microscope in many ways and Mark had no idea what it was supposed to be able to do when actually created. “I think it would be good if ye started making tha focus.”

Jack pointed at a smaller drawing of the microscopes glass focus, held in place by golden details that made their way up and around the flat round glass part. The drawing was full of scribbles that Mark actually could comprehend and he nodded in agreement, mind somewhere else as his thoughts started to wander. His body was all cozy and fuzzy from having done a good days work and in right that moment his sleep drunk brain made a stupid decision.

“Hey, want to go out and get some coffee? Next week?”

Jack looked completely baffled by the sudden question and Mark felt incredibly stupid. He was just about to take it back when Jacks face split into an enormous grin.

“Sounds great”

  
—————————————————————————————————————

  
They didn’t go out for coffee that week, or the next week or the week after that. Mark told himself that it was because they were so busy creating the machines for the project but the reality was that he was afraid. Afraid of what could happen if he and Jack went out alone.

Because of this Mark had gotten to know the city pretty well by the time Jack caught him and asked him about the coffee. Seeing no way out they had decided on time and place. Next Friday evening. Today was Monday. Mark couldn’t sleep for the rest of the week.  
  
————————————————————————————————————————

When they entered the small coffee shop “Pamela’s chocolate and coffee” the musky scent of coffee brewing mixed with the scent of the hundreds of flowers that decorated the café. “Pamela’s chocolate and coffee” or “PMs crazy scents shop” as Felix and Wade often called it was an old café that was completely made out of wood of all different kinds. Black oak covered the walls and cedar and birch made up the tables. The floor was carpeted in a friendly deep green and the lamps and chandeliers were made from old metal, like iron. Everywhere there were flowers. Roses, tulips, hyacinths and chrysanthemum as well as tenths of other flowers stood in vases, in barrels and in pots. Some were dried others were green and full of life. A big fireplace in which a fire was lit crackled homely and filled the whole shop with the faint scent of burning wood.

The café made Mark remember his home where the old metals and colours still were a thing. They hadn’t enough money to buy the new furniture or change their old lamps to the modern gold, bronze or copper.

Mark let out a content sigh as he took in the shop and for a moment he forgot what he was doing. Until someone shifted beside him and suddenly he was acutely aware of the man right next to him. Daring a glance Mark immediately regretted it. He had actually avoided looking at Jack for the whole duration of the walk and now he realized exactly why. It wasn’t just him being scared. It was a matter of survival, because his heart couldn’t take it.

Jack was standing right next to him, and he looked delighted as he happily checked out the shop. He was wearing his ordinary hat matched with a pair of cogwheel glasses that rested on top of it, making him look like either a nerd or someone extremely cool. He wore a dark brown leather jacket with its arms folded up to his elbows showing off the lighter brown inside. His pants were workers pants covered with pockets of differing sizes, all of them usually filled with different mechanical parts and drawings. Around his right arm there was a big leather bracelet with a green little dome on. Mark wondered if you could open it. He wore matching boots with small gears on them and as Mark watched him he kind of thought he looked like a pilot. Just give him a scarf and some thick gloves and he would be ready to head out.

The thought was funny and all but as much as Mark appreciated comedy he really didn’t want to think about anything concerning the man. He was deeply disturbed by the way his eyes always sought out Jacks lips and how he so easily, way too easily, got lost in those stupidly blue eyes.

“Come on, keep it together. You’re just here as friends” Mark told himself repeatedly. After having told himself that for maybe a minute he actually started to believe it and as Jack went over to the counter to order he reminded himself that he’s got other stuff to think about.

“So, what do you want sweetie?” The dark haired woman called Pamela leaned forward in a seductive manner, one hand wrapped under her breasts and head resting on the other.  
Mark often went here and stayed unfazed. Jack however, had never met Pamela before and was quickly transformed into a red fumbling mess. Mark chuckled at the sight when Jack tried to order all the while trying to avoid looking at her impressive cleavage. It didn’t go well but Mark wasn’t going to help. Putting on his most devilish smile he waltzed forward and leaned down onto the counter in a flirty manner. God, he could practically feel Jack staring at him, clearly surprised.

“Won’t you hand me one of those deep ocean coffees darling?”

Pamela chuckled deeply as she handed him it, already prepared. Mark shot Jack a winning smile as he paid and left him with Pamela again. She was getting fired up, oh...Jack was going to be traumatized for life. He could literally feel Jacks gaze burning holes in his back as he left, but he only chuckled to himself heading for a small round table right by some tall sweet peas.

When Jack finally got to the table he was carrying a big steaming cup of coffee. He was shaking slightly, his hair was ruffled and his jacket was opened, showing of a grey shirt with a print that Mark couldn’t quite make out. PM had gone all out.

“Fooking hell. That lady’s a monster.” Jack exclaimed dramatically as he sat down on the other side of the table. Barely holding back his laughter Mark smiled at him as he sipped from his coffee.

“That’s PM for you. Don’t worry she doesn’t mean anything by it. She’s married and have kids. Though you could probably get something going if you tried. I heard her husband isn’t the nicest man around and she’s never been known to be faithful”

“That’s cool, if that’s tha way ye want ta go.” Jack looked surprisingly serious and Mark couldn’t help but wonder what it was that caused those feelings. However, he couldn’t just ask that so instead he said “yeah, I don’t really do short relationships”

Jacks eyes widened slightly but he nodded “Ye,’s important ta be able ta trust each other” When talking Jack looked up at him but as their gazes met he quickly averted it, coughing into his fist awkwardly. “So, what’s yer favourite game?”

“Wait, wha..” Mark couldn’t stop himself. “Aren’t you going to ask what a highlander is doing here? Jack quirked an eyebrow “Was I s’posed ta?”

“Ummm, we-well” He actually was at a loss for words. Why the hell was he even asking this? “I just thought, everybody seems to ask me that.”

“We’ve all got our different reasons for being here.” The answer was short and for a second he thought that Jack looked almost sad, his bright eyes a clouded blue. However the moment disappeared as quick as it came and soon he was smiling again. “And? I asked ‘bout yer favourite game”

Mark smiled as he discarded the heavy thoughts and happily thought to himself that, here, he had a real friend.

 


	5. The way home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A peaceful walk home. What could possibly go wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya

“And then Felix betrayed me! Can ye believe that?”

It had gotten quite late and feeling fuzzy from all the coffee Mark had relaxed and just contented himself with listening to Jacks happy rambling. The nervousness he felt for going out with Jack had subsided and he felt like his earlier feelings had all been a big misunderstanding. He hoped so at least. He only wanted to be friends. In the middle of the thought he realized that the words had quieted and soon understood that he had been asked a question. Feeling quite embarrassed he asked “Sorry, could you repeat that?”

“I was asking if ye know how late it is?”

“Aw shit”

He hadn’t realized how the time flew by and quickly looked down at his wristwatch. The fingers were showing a shocking 11 pm and he only threw a quick panicked glance towards Jack before standing up and starting to pack his stuff.

“I’m sorry, but I have to leave.”

He slung the bag over his shoulder as he said that, looking apologetically at Jack that met his gaze with a warm smile and a shrug

“Can’t be helped can it? Ye wouldn’t want Felix and Wade ta be all worried again.” He shook his head and smiled. “No. They would most likely kick me out if that happens..... did you know that Wade has a thing going with the landlady? Apparently she’s really young”

“Haha, no.” Jack stopped Marks blabbering with a light nudge.”Ye can tell me all ‘bout it on tha way back.” Mark laughed as they went outside “You’re going to regret that”.

The weather was neither too hot nor too cold. The café was in the calmer districts of the city, not far from where Mark had been yesterday. Listening with a half ear to Jack small talking he relaxed and his thoughts wandered back to yesterday...and Kim. He couldn’t seem to get that girl out of his mind and to tell the truth he would much rather have her there than certain other thoughts.

The scent of flowers wafted through the air and Mark realized that the sound of Jack speaking had stopped. Curious as to what had made the highborne stop he turned his head and saw Jack looking into a flower shop. Why was he so absorbed by the tiny shop? “What’re you looking at?” Mark glimpsed the blonde flowing hair of a girl and before Jack had a chance to answer he asked “That blonde one catching your fancy?”

Jack actually burst out laughing. Shaking his head he giggled and looked up at Mark, blue eyes filled with amusement. “Tha hell Mark, I just thought I saw someone I recognize.” His smile grew wider at Marks pretend shocked expression “..and, that’s a man” as if hearing his name being called the blonde ‘girl’ whipped around and looked outside. A hand grabbed Marks wrist and pulled him away as a bearded face with glasses regarded the darkness outside warily. But when he couldn’t find anyone the blonde man turned around.

When the adrenaline subsided Mark found himself pressed into a small alleyway. Someone shifted against his body and suddenly Mark realized that Jack was extremely close to him, their bodies tightly pressed together in the small space. Seemingly unbothered by the close proximity Jack shot Mark a blinding smile.

“Did ye see that? T’at bloke didn’t understand anything!” Mark was so confused. He could feel Jacks breath against his neck and the warmth of his legs pressed against his didn’t help in any way to calm his rapidly beating heart. He tried to formulate a somewhat understandable answer anyway.

“Yeah, but, who was that?” Glee fading somewhat Jack said “That’s Jacob. He’s the manager of the flower shop that we usually buy our flowers from.” Mark recalled the beautiful vase of red flowers he had seen when first entering the tinkering shop.

“Does he deliver them himself?”

“Nono, he has a daughter and a son that binds and delivers them. He just supervises the finances”

“Aha” As Mark looked back at the shop he thought he saw red hair flowing by but he decided to ignore it, there were many with hair that colour after all. “Well, if yer interested in them we’re going ta order new flowers on Monday. I was thinking of going meself but if ye want ta be going I won’t stop ye.”

Mark felt deep appreciation for the highbornes consideration but right now there was a more urgent issue that had to be solved.

“I would love to, but what do you say we get out of here?” Jack looked a little surprised, as if he hadn’t realized what position they were in until now. “Are ye sure? It’s rather comfy” he was smiling teasingly. Marks heart skipped a beat but he held back his embarrassment and played along. “Do you want me to make it feel better?” He said in his deepest voice as he leaned forward and breathed out on Jacks neck. Jack had not expected that to happen and his eyes widened as Mark put a hand right above him, pinning him in place. He actually shivered under Marks touch and averted his eyes, lips slightly parted. Fuck. Too hot. Marks heart was going crazy, he had to take it back.

“Uhm, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to creep you out I-I..” Mark backed as far as the alleyway allowed, hands fidgeting with the hem of his shirt. Jack stayed where he was, averting his eyes. “ ‘S okay, I begged for it.” The words were simple and relief washed over Mark as he understood that Jack merely saw it as playful tease. But still, he was way too aware of the highborne in front of him and wanting to quickly put as much space as possible between them Mark stumbled out of the alley and onto the dimly lit street.

Jack hadn’t exited yet so Mark took the opportunity to mentally punch himself repeatedly.  
He was so stupid! He felt like a total douche and what was all the more terrifying was that he could still recall how Jacks body had felt under his hands, how his muscles had shifted beneath his clothes, how his pale skin had flushed red and exactly how he had looked when Mark had....done what he had done. Shit. He needed to get some sleep. Maybe he should just let Jack go? It was too dangerous to be close to him. He could get a new job, maybe move to another part of the city.

But as he looked back at Jack who by now had exited the alley and was standing next to him he realized that....who was he trying to fool? He couldn’t get a new job, the number of jobs available was below negative and he liked Wade and Felix, even if Felix could be kind of a douche. He couldn’t simply move only because he was scared of a co worker. Also, there was the issue that was looking at him right now. He liked Jack and wanted to be his friend, he really did. Jack was nice and hadn’t done anything to deserve getting thrown away.

It was decided then. He would do his best to stay Jacks friend, and nothing more.

“Havin’ some deep thoughts over t’ere?” Mark smiled back. “No, not really. Wanna get going?” Jack nodded and fell into steps right next to him. It was a little awkward, really.

Mark desperately wanted to break the silence but no matter how hard he thought nothing that came up could pass his quality check for a complete and sane sentence. In the end it was Jack that yet again broke down the invisible wall. “So, ‘bout what happened.” A pause. “Ye were just joking..right?” Something snapped inside his chest but Mark ignored it and laughed “yea I’m not really into guys” he looked at Jack, trying to interpret the reaction “it’s completely fine if you are though, I’m not homophobic.” He hurried to add, suddenly uncertain about what to say.

He hadn’t needed to worry. Jack merely laughed out loudly, startling an old lady. He really was loud Mark thought with a warm smile. Out of the blue a thought popped up and seeing no reason to worry he asked

“You know. I haven’t heard your story. How come you’re here? Felix said that you’re a highborne as well.” However, he immediately regretted asking as Jack visibly tensed. “You don’t have to tell, please don’t force yourself.”

Surprisingly enough Jack actually let out a long breath of air before answering, not looking at Mark but at the sky.

“So Felix told ye that. ‘S true, I’m a highborne. I was born in a small village, it was always snowing t’ere. Me family was always working but I was too thin ta follow with. It was terribly lonely. One day a boy fell down.” Jack glanced over at Mark” He fell down the mountainside. No one seemed ta notice so I ran out. Tha boy had blue eyes and blonde hair, ‘e was laughing, as if ‘e hadn’t just fallen down at least a couple ‘o meters. I asked him why he was here and he said that he had ran away. He was so full of colours, so unlike my grey village. I asked him for his name...it was Felix.”

There Mark wanted to interrupt but the way Jack looked shut him up. “I invited him home and we quickly became best friends. Later that day his parents found us as we were playing. I was 12 at tha time. It turned out that they were a new family that had moved into tha house next door. We were super happy ‘bout it. From that day onwards we stayed friends and did a lot ‘o dumb things. Tha one thing that we loved above everything..and tha one thing that was more forbidden than anything was ta climb tha mountain. Y’see, from there ye got a full panorama o’ tha great harbours. We wanted ta go there so desperately.” Jack sighed. “We were such idiots”. He looked at Mark, something akin to melancholy or maybe a resigned sorrow in his eyes.

“As we grew older we collected money and got ‘ere eventually.” Silence. It took a couple of minutes for Mark to recover from the story and he couldn’t help but feel like some things were missing or altered in it. But seeing as to how Jack had reacted when Mark asked him for the story the first time he didn’t dare ask.

The rest of the walk home went by without incident, when Mark went inside he waved goodbye to Jack that lived a little further away. As he entered the hall something hard hit his face.

“The hell?!” Felix was pressing what looked like a clock into his face pointing at the hands. “You almost gave me a heart attack! What was that for?”. Felix pressed the clock harder into his face as he said “I’m the one that should be cursing! You’re late goddamnit!” Felix removed the clock in favour of gesturing wildly so now he actually saw what time it was. Shit, he knew that it had been a bad idea to go out with Jack. The clock showed a shocking half past 12. How the hell did that walk take so long?

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you worry.”

Felix snorted and Mark actually felt a little hurt. “It’s not really you that I’m the most worried about. It’s Jack, he hasn’t responded for hours.” He walked a little too close to Mark for his liking “ Tell me, what were you doing?”.

Damn, what was he supposed to say. Desperately trying to come up with an answer he opened and closed his mouth like a fish and apparently Felix took his silence for an answer. He bored his ice blue eyes into Marks brown “What did he tell you?” His voice was edged with a hint of desperation. Why was he so on edge?

“Um...” Mark was saved by a pyjamas dressed Wade that walked into the room, looking really groggy. He had most likely been waked up by their arguing.

“What are you doing? The landlady’s going to be angry”

“Right. We don’t want to disturb your little girlfriend.” Felix retorted, sarcasm lacing his voice. “What the hell Felix? That was too much!” Mark exclaimed, he wanted to defend Wade that hadn’t done anything to deserve this. Felix growled and shoved Wade out of the way as he exited the room.

“What was that about?” Wade asked. “Nothing” Mark didn’t want Felix to hurt Wade but to tell the truth he didn’t want to deal with him either. With quite a sour feeling in his stomach he exited the hall.

When he went to bed that night sleep didn’t come easy. He couldn’t help but wonder why Felix didn’t want Jack to be close to him. He got that Felix saw Jack as an important friend, but that didn’t justify protecting him like this. It was almost like...he was afraid of something. Was something or someone after them? He couldn’t help but think of the way Jack seemed to leave out parts of his story. What had really happened that time? What was he hiding? Mark didn’t get any farther in his pondering as sleep took a hold of him.

 


	6. Flowers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mark goes to a flower shop and then messes everything up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just had to add another chapter, it was too tempting

The scent of hundreds of flowers embraced him as he entered the tiny flowers shop. Everywhere around him there were colours, flowers in barrels, flowers in vases, pots and trellises. Dried flowers hanged from the ceiling and ready bouquets crowded in a glass cabinet. A small bell tinged when he opened the door and the sound of low music hit his ears.

“Hello! Welcome to “Western harbours flower shop”” a cheery voice greeted him over from the flower drenched counter. He looked over there and thought his heart was going to stop right then and there.

Sunlight shined on red hair, making the loose strands shine like gold. Green eyes glittered with amusement at his surprise. She was wearing a light brown apron over a checkered shirt. Her right hand was decorated by a tiny gold bracelet and in her hair a white daisy was placed. It was Kim. The one girl that could fill out his mind so completely that nothing else got room.

“Heya Mark! Long time no see.” She grinned and Mark thought that the sun had taken on the shape of a human and entered the shop. Trying to get his wits together he lamely waved hello and walked over to her like a lovestruck zombie.

“Geez, ya sure do take your time” she said when he after what felt like an eternity reached the counter. He blinked when she snapped her fingers in front of his eyes, finally regaining his full conscience. “Hello? Eilith to Mark, are ya receivin’?” He took her raised hand and put it down on the desk. “Receiving you loud and clear”. Kim giggled and slapped his hand lightly “lay off on the flirting mr hunk” she fanned herself with her hand dramatically “Ma teeny tiny girl heart can’t take it.”

Mark chuckled and removed his hand, acting cool. But on the inside he was a fumbling mess that was giggling like crazy. All thoughts not concerning Kim long forgotten.

It was Kim that brought him down on earth again as she asked “from your reaction I’m guessin that ya didn’t come here just ta socialize. Why’re ya here?” Mark fumbled with his bag, bringing out a wrinkled note. “Um”. Well this was embarrassing. The ink was so smudged that he couldn’t read.

Kim went around the counter and looked over his shoulder at the smudged paper. Her close proximity made a blush creep up his neck but he didn’t move, loving the warmth radiating off of her. “Ya got yerself a real problem here.” Mark got slightly worried “is it that bad?” Kim nodded seriously. “Bobs fired people for less than this”. Something smelled fishy. Bob seemed like a nice guy. He wouldn’t fire someone over something like this would he?

Marks suspicions were confirmed, because now Kim was desperately trying to hold back the smile that threatened to crack her serious expression. Smiling teasingly Mark said “Has he really?”

Kim nodded furiously, but now she was giggling. Her façade crumbling as she burst out laughing. Mark followed suit and hugged the adorable human in his glee, pressing her tight against his torso. At first she seemed shocked but soon she hugged back, giggling into his shoulder.

When the laughter subsided Mark realized what he had done, but Kim didn’t let him apologize, “Ya shouldn’t apologize fer hugging someone” she said while straightening her clothes. Mark thought back to what he had done to Jack last Friday night and immediately felt ill, that had definitely not been something that was okay to do.

Kim saved him from his thoughts when she went over to the area with loose flowers for custom made bouquets. “‘S tha same as always then” she said while smiling.

Mark went over to her and watched as she carefully picked the flowers and assembled them in a big bouquet. Most of the flowers were unknown to him but he could distinguish red chrysanthemum, roses, blue lilies and deep blue tulips. The way she handled them with so much care and love enchanted him and an incredible warmth bloomed out inside his chest.

She added three daisies and went over to the counter where she cut the stems and bound them together, finally putting on a small card featuring the shops name and contact info on the lace. Kim put the bouquet on the counter but before Mark got the chance to pay said “ Wait ‘ere, I’ll be right back.” She disappeared into the back of the shop.

By the time she returned he had had more than enough time to worry about all of the possibilities that her disappearance could mean, most of them were bad or worse. All of them were proved wrong though as she took one of his hands with both of hers, god they were so petite, calloused from hard work, but still petite. When she removed her hands something was left in his hand. He looked down and discovered to his surprise a tiny bouquet of red flowers.

“For ya hair” Kim explained as she smiled at his dumbfounded expression. “Thanks” he managed to say, not able to get a grip on what had just happened. When he didn’t say anything more Kim actually blushed and averted her eyes grumpily “way ta make everyt’ing awkward” she looked up “smooth, ya big idiot”. Mark smiled warmly, holding the tiny flowers close to his chest.

“Well, ya better pay up. Or I may take t’ose back.” She was back to her old self in the blink of an eye. He didn’t really want to go but he knew that Bob was going to get pissed if he messed up and came late again. So he rummaged through his bag again and pulled out 2 copper coins and one silver.

Kim looked rather surprised as he put the coins on the counter. “Two copper coins, are ya really sure?” Mark nodded “Yeah, See it as a thanks for the great service”. Kim didn’t argue and after a moments hesitation she put them into the cash register. “Thank you so much, I really appreciate it” She was smiling warmly and before Mark got a chance to react she leaned over the counter and put a kiss on his cheek.

“Now, ya better leave, Bob’s gonna explode” Kim literally had to push the gaping Mark out of the shop or he would’ve stood there all day, rooted to the ground like one of the plants.

It was first when the fresh air hit him that the enchantment lifted and he turned to Kim, question on the tip of his tongue. Only that, she wasn’t there. Confusion filled him as he looked around. A flash of red caught his eye and he turned to look through the big glass windows that surrounded the shop. He didn’t get to see much though as a humongous shape towered up on the other side. Blonde hair fell down enormous shoulders and Mark had about enough time to think “oh crap” before the man was outside, going towards him in a speed that shouldn’t be legal.

Adrenaline started pumping through him, his heart raced, and Mark ran. Faster than he ever had before, he maneuvered the alleys like he had known them for years and felt like a friggin sprinter. Soon the adrenaline transformed into excitement and he let out a loud laugh as he pressed the flowers closer to his chest, feeling like nothing could stop him now.

————————————————————————————————————————

When Mark entered the tinkering shop he was walking on thin air, his head was up in the clouds and he was smiling like an idiot. The first one that saw him was Jack that hurried towards him, clearly upset. It looked like he was about to ask what the hell Mark had been doing but stopped short when he saw the way Mark looked.

“Ye look like either ye‘ ve bin drugged, won a thousand copper coins or just bin kissed by yer love.” Mark only smiled towards him, his thoughts somewhere among doves, chocolate and sickly sweet love songs. “Right. Now ye’re creepin me out. Don’t tell me ye got inta tha shady quarters.” Mark slowly shook his head. “So, ye’ve won tha big price?” Mark actually snapped at that, laughing out loudly. “Hell no, is that really what it looks like?” Jack nodded seriously but seemed to think it over.

Then suddenly his eyes widened and slowly, carefully, he asked “ Did ye get fooking kissed?” Mark nodded, a big goofy smile plastered on his face. “Wait. What?!. Tha hell Mark, ye never told me anything ‘bout a lover!”

“She isn’t my lover” Mark said slowly, trying to control the glee filling him at the thought of Kim actually being just that. His happy expression was cut short though as he finally looked at Jack for real.

The highborne looked absolutely shocked, almost...hurt. Now the only thing Mark felt was worry for the man before him “Jack, what’s wrong?”

Jack only shook his head, trying to gather his thoughts. “Nothin, I was just surprised. Ye seemed like such an idiot. I didn’t think ye could actually be serious.” Mark couldn’t sense the strain in Jacks voice and thought the sharp words a joke.” Haha, is that supposed to be funny? I bet that you’ve had at least one or two girlfriends from where you came from”

Nothing could’ve prepared Mark for the response he got. Jack whirled around, eyes clouded by anger “Ye don’t know nothing ‘bout me. So don’t come ‘ere spouting yer stupid shit”

Mark was absolutely stunned. What the hell had just happened? He could do nothing but watch Jack walk away, anger clearly visible in his step as angst unknown to him since the disappearance of his brother gripped his heart. What the actual fucking hell had he done?

————————————————————————————————————————

Bob hadn’t been chill about his late arrival and had just been about to put him on cog wheel sorting duty when Wade had entered, saving him yet again.

As they walked into the working room Mark, feeling quite ashamed, asked “Why did you help me?” Wade shrugged. “I need help, and your talent is not something to be wasted on sorting gears.” He smiled “That’s more Felix kind of job.”

Appreciating the opportunity for a good laugh Mark smiled at the large man. “I’m really happy about it.” Something snapped inside of him and he looked down at his feet “I really need to continue on the project”.

“Jacks project?” He nodded “Yeah, we...we kinda had an argument earlier and I need to make it up to him somehow.”

“Why not just apologize?” Mark couldn’t look at Wade, memories of his selfish and ignorant behaviour from yesterday strangling him. “I can’t” he had to face it. He was afraid. No. Not just afraid. He was scared to death about the way he had behaved. He couldn’t possibly risk putting Jack in such danger again.

“You really do care about Jack, don’t you?” Mark wanted to deny it but he found himself nodding. Yes, of corse he cared about him. Only that he wasn’t quite sure in which way yet.  
Mark dared a glance up at Wade that stood beside the working table..and he looked, uncertain. As if he was trying to choose whether or not to tell a secret. Just as Mark opened his mouth to ask what was up Wade seemed to have made up his mind and pulled him into the kitchen.

“What was that for?” Mark couldn’t decide wether he should feel irritated or curious. But before he got the chance to ask for a response Wade locked the door and let out a huge sigh as he sank onto one of the chairs. Looking quite serious he then gestured for Mark to sit down opposite him. “So, I’m sorry for dragging you in here. But there is something I have to tell you.”

“What?” Mark raised an eyebrow as he sat down more comfortably.

“It’s about Jack and Felix. Well. Mostly Jack.” Wade hesitated but Mark, now really on edge, egged him on with an impatient look until he finally blurted out. “I just think that you should stay away from him, okay!?” Anger rose inside Mark as he took in the advice. What the hell was Wade getting at?

He tried to calm down and slowly, carefully, as to not scare Wade away asked “Why?” Wade shifted uncomfortably “I-I happened to see the sketches for your project as I walked into the office yesterday.” Mark didn’t flinch, that wasn’t really something to be so upset about was it. Wade seemed to sense Marks doubt and quickly continued “It was not just the sketches. I saw other things as well. Old documents and the second verse of an old poem.” Wade bored his eyes into Marks.

“That project isn’t what you think it is Mark. What Jack’s doing isn’t healthy. He’s trying to unearth legends that should stay buried. If you join forces with him you will without a doubt be dragged into this and...I don’t want that.”

That’s right. Wade had a degree in history...that didn’t mean that he trusted him though. But he was curios. “What exactly are these legends? Why are they so dangerous?” Wade looked Mark sharp into the eye and said “I don’t want to be in this mess more than I already am. I don’t want to involve you any more either.” And then he left.

“Sorry Wade. But you already have”. It was decided the second Wade left the room. He would solve this mystery. Besides what harm could an old dusty legend or two do?

 


	7. A lesson in history

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mark goes to the library

“Legends?”

The old library lady with the tiny glasses looked at Mark as if he was crazy. “Young man. I can’t understand your interest in them. Legends are no more than fairy tales! Science is the only answer.”

“Could you please just answer me?” Mark was seriously fed up with this lady *cough* hag *cough*. He had been standing here for at least a quarter of an hour and she jus wouldn’t answer him where the legends section was, blabbering on and on about her science. Mark had heard rumours that the ports people had abandoned legends and religion in favour of science. But he hadn’t expected them to ridicule it to this extent.

Finally the wrinkled lady snorted. Probably realizing that Mark didn’t buy any of her crap. She pointed a gnarled finger towards some small wooden stairs rising up to a secluded balcony. Mark could practically feel the dust encircling it all the way from where he stood. Well, at least he got an answer. It couldn’t be that bad.

————————————————————————————————————————

It wasn’t that bad. It was worse. As he climbed the final steps of the discouragingly tall spiral stairs his lungs got filled with dust almost immediately. Coughing like crazy he ran back dow. That room was no joke. He could practically feel the nasty librarians hawk eyes laughing at him, but that only made him more determined to make it. But he would need help to win this fight.

Going back up was a no-no so he headed for the janitors office instead. It turned out that they were much nicer than the lady at the desk and only nodded sympathetically when he told them about the dusted room.

When Mark returned it was in full armour. He had a handkerchief tied over his mouth, large gloves on his hands to protect him from the squirrels (yes, apparently there were squirrels in there). In his hands he was holding a bucket of water and a mop. His pockets were stuffed with dishcloths and he had a multitude of different sprays in his bag. “Alright, Mark heading into battle”

The area was small, no more than a tiny funnily shaped room with pretty wooden railings instead of walls on the right and forward side. As Mark cleaned he realized that under the grey dust the area was a brilliant light brown mahogany. Antique lamps decorated the walls and large bookshelves stood placed in the leftmost section of the room. It was actually quite beautiful. Other than that there was nothing else decorating the area, dating the last visitors to at least a couple of years back.

One thing that Mark found interesting when cleaning was that he had found footsteps in the dust, it could just be a confused library visitor that had wandered up here by mistake. But you wouldn’t go in if you were just confused would you?

Shaking off a squirrel Mark followed the footsteps to one of the farthest bookshelves. “The stone man is real” “Lightpeople” “The truth behind our gods” “What are toads?” He read out loud as he looked for something, anything, indicating someone else’s touch.

He found what he sought right in between “Encyclopedia of funnily shaped rocks” and “Spider kabob recipes” where a large book was missing. He traced the dusted space with his fingers, wondering who had been here and why they choose this exact book. He would have to investigate that Mark thought to himself as he stood up and stretched. All this work was really exhausting. It was time for a break.

————————————————————————————————————————

The library café was large and modern but still somehow managed to feel cozy. Four large floor to ceiling windows covered the rightmost wall, the room was painted in a pastel green and the floor was a golden mahogany like the rest of the library. Round tables with fancy looking chairs were placed out all over the large space and a mechanical vacuum cleaner with a small antenna whooshed around running over an unfortunate business mans foot. There were lots of paintings hanging on the wall and on the leftmost wall, right before the café counter, a large timeline in gold was placed. Mark could already guess what it would be featuring but went over to it anyway.

And sure enough. The timeline was one large tribute to science. Ignoring all the fancy professor names Mark choose to focus on the few small dots where there was actually written something of interest.

He pressed the first button and a blue text hologram appeared before him. He then put his mechanical arm underneath it and pulled away, the text following with it. Smiling he congratulated himself for his home made arm modifications and downloaded the other points that he deemed interesting.

After having downloaded the texts Mark ordered a “robot cake” a tarte that looked like a small cylindrical robot and sat down at one of the tables, as far away as possible from other people.

Munching on his cake he started to scroll through the holograms. The first read

“The beginning” at the start of our era the people of Eilith woke up on the shores of The Worlds end sea. No memories of a past we started to wander inland. For 3 decades our people lived as nomads with no place to call home. We lived of fruits, berries and meat that we found, but every day was a struggle. Our survival lay in the gods hands. They provided us with protection and means to live, the people worshipped them. But nevertheless, one day we were forsaken.”

Mark remembered having read this in one of his school books up in the Highlands. It was one of this worlds greatest mysteries. Why did they not have any memories? And why did the gods forsake them? No one seemed to ask themselves what had happened 10 000 years ago anymore but Mark had a feeling that it was more to it than the history explained. He continued reading.

“The Forsaken ones” we knew the gods had abandoned us when giant creatures started tearing down our population. We fled back down to the shores or up into the mountain, the only places the creatures did not follow. Life began yet again, but it became harder to live. When the beasts no longer were a problem other issues quickly arose. We were too many. As people started building villages by the ocean the village elders often came up with tricks to throw people out. A peaceful era came to an end.”

Mark hadn’t known about this. When he asked his parents why they didn’t live in the great harbours that seemed to have room for everyone their eyes had darkened and they’d leave him with an unsatisfactory response like “It’s beautiful here isn’t it?” or “Oh Mark, the big cities are nothing for us”. Now he understood the deep hatred that many of the highlanders held for the harbours.”They kicked us out”. A small flicker of disappointment flashed through him but he quickly dismissed it. You shouldn’t brood over conflicts 6000 years old.

“The wars of metal” The outcasts, as they were called, had lost all hope but not yet the will to live. They started making their way into the mountains to avoid the beasts, creating cave systems of never seen proportions. It was in there that the first ore, the silver, was found. The outcasts thought it a gift from the gods, a sign of war. They did not yet know how to shape the metal but their lust for revenge made their minds quicker and sharper. The first sword was forged in July 18, exactly 300 years after them earning the “title” of outcasts. The first human was felled in February next year and soon the world was engulfed in a one sided war. The outcasts swiftly cut through the people in the small ports. Defeating them in December the following year. The ports people were forced into a reign of vengeance and hatred, losing all rights and working as slaves to the outcasts that had now equipped the proud title of “Blessed ones”. However. Chance had it that a young adult slave working in one of the silver mines one day found something new, a gemstone.”

Had his ancestors really been such jackasses? Mark stopped munching for a sec, staring at the flickering hologram. He never got to learn this part in school, they only ever talked about how arrogant the ports people were. He scrolled past some professors and continued reading.

“Gems rising” the girl that found the ruby kept it to herself at first. Scared that someone might take it. She kept it on a necklace around her neck as a good luck charm. One day a foreman saw something glittering around her neck and grabbed her in a strangling grip. But when he did the ruby came to life and something came out of it. A red serpent, scarcely anything more than a hologram with only one solid point, the gem. It attacked the foreman and killed him. It was the first “Familiar””

After the word a book was named and Mark quickly scribbled it down before continuing.

“The girl saw her chance and freed the other slaves in her area. She showed them the serpent and told them to go search for gems and spread the word to the other slaves. As more and more gems were found the girl, named Anna Freescribe, and the other slaves quickly conquered the tunnel systems under the leadership of the ten leaders and their familiars. The Blessed ones couldn’t counter the power of the gems and little by little the slaves started to take back their home.”

“Cycle of hatred” When the Blessed ones lay defeated their leader begged for mercy. The slaves shouted to kill them all but Anna saw the cycle of hatred. What they had done both before and after the wars was scarcely any better than what the Blessed ones had done to them. A treaty was formed but the Blessed ones received a ban of 500 years for their crimes and were forced back out onto the Highlands, taking on the name of Highlanders.

Exhausted by the war the highlanders lacked the will to fight back and with help from the ports they developed new technology to help them survive in the unwelcoming lands. Anna, now chosen to be the first sea empress told them that they were welcome back once they had paid for their crimes and she made a promise that once that time came no hatred should exist between the groups.”

Well, this was interesting. But Mark knew basically all of the history after that. A lot of professors would start inventing stuff, creating the industrial society that they now lived in. Furthermore, the highborne, isolated from the wars would discover copper but all of the money would be taken by a selected few, creating the so called “royals” that ruled the mountains and forced the poor people to work for them to minimal wage. To think that Felix and Jack had grown up there... come to think of it. Mark shrunk a little. It had been one week since their argument and Jack still wouldn’t even look at him. Mark got that it must be hard to talk about living in such a cold and cruel world but. Arghhh! He just didn’t get it!

Mark gripped the poor spoon so tight that it bent and an upset waiter hurried over and started to talk fast and angrily to him. Mark bowed his head and apologized as appropriate but didn’t hear anything of what the angry man was saying. It was such a bother. He straightened the spoon, took his bag and started to make his way out towards the library desk while the waiter was still talking.

The angry lady at the desk shot daggers at him as he neared but he didn’t go to her, he couldn’t take another session of her mindless chatter, and instead went over to one of the nicer looking librarians. A confused looking guy with curly hair and round glasses.

He perked up as Mark neared and shot him a bright smile. “Welcome, ‘ow can I help ya?” The young man seemed to realize something and put a hand over his mouth repeating “I mean. How may I help you?”

Strange. He recognized that dialect. But he didn’t want to pry and the guy looked quite embarrassed by his “mistake”. So Mark went over to the desk and asked “I was just up by the legends section” the man flinched, looking quite taken aback. Oh man, so it began again, the hate on legends.

But the redhead only smiled and leaned forward, pushing back his glasses. “Really? No one has been there for ages.” He seemed to consider something. “Except for that strange fella that comes here sometimes. The old hag hates his guts.” As if hearing her name the wrinkled lady suddenly turned towards them, obviously trying to kill them with her glare. Mark ignored her in favour of asking. “Who?”

“What?” The green eyed man looked confused. “Geez, I forgot again didn’t I?” He was quite the handful but Mark kept calm. “The one that always comes here?” The man stared at him for a full minute before something seemed to click and he straightened himself “Can’t tell you, personal information”

Now he was really interested, so he tried altering the question “Is it too much personal information to ask what that person has borrowed?”

The librarian looked uncertain and after a moment picked up a damaged notebook and started tracing the lines with his index finger. He mumbled to himself as he flipped through the pages until “Aha! Found it! It‘s not too personal so I can tell ya.” He looked so proud Mark got the urge to pat his fluffy hair and tell him that he was a good boy.

He didn’t get the chance though as the guy hurried over to the nearby computer and started typing. After a few moments of silence the librarian ran over to an overly large and complicated printer and picked up a document. He skipped back to Mark and handed it to him with a happy smile. Mark realized that he looked like nothing more than an excited teenager or a little boy and returned the smile fondly.

The letters on the document listed a grand total of 4 books. This person wasn’t a hardcore reader.

“Librarian courses for dummies”

Mark looked up at the other man with a raised eyebrow. “Oh, that isn’t supposed to be there” The man laughed nervously as he plucked a pen from out of his floof and crossed out the book. “It’s no worries” Mark smiled reassuringly before continuing to read.

“The culture of the mountains”  
“Poems and prophesies of old”  
“Ms Berthas cookbook”

After having read everything Mark came to the important conclusion that the cookbook didn’t fit in and that he really should borrow all of these. Especially that one about poems. “Hey, could you please put me in queue for all of these books, mr..?”

“Call me Patrick.” Patrick skipped over to the computer happily. Judging from his reaction Mark guessed that he didn’t get many requests. He pressed a button and whirled around to face Mark but his gaze got stuck somewhere above Marks head. “It’s rainy today” Mark turned around to look out at the grey rain covered city on the other side of the large windows. “Yeah, and it was so nice this morning too.” When Mark looked back Patrick was gazing straight at him and it soon started to feel awkward. But the young man didn’t seem to mind “I’ll send you a holomail when the books are back”.

“Great” Mark waved goodbye to the strange fella and exited the library, it really was pouring down. Damn weather forecasts, can’t trust ‘em. Many angry words going through his brain Mark hurried down a nearby alley. His only focus on a warm, dry bed and something hot to drink.

Had Mark not been in such a hurry and had the weather been clearer then maybe he would’ve noticed the cloaked figure hurrying out from the library, following him, and then maybe he would’ve seen the way the tide rippled in a strange way as the city basked in an unnatural moonlight, cutting through the thick clouds.

 


	8. Deep water

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mark goes to help Felix, but then things start going wrong

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ladies and gentlemen, I’m afraid this is getting weird

  
“Hey, Mark?”

“Mark”

“Yo, Mark!”

“Are you even listening?!”

Felix shoved his elbow into Marks unprotected belly, successfully knocking him off of the chair on which he had been keeping the same pose for way too long.

“What the heck?!” He sat up from his new floor position and rubbed his sore knee. “You weren’t listening” Felix snorted and rested his hands on his hips.

“Oh” Mark blushed. He hadn’t been listening because his mind had been on a certain Highborne that was working by himself only a few meters away. No. It wasn’t like that. He only wanted to get his friend back. Felix couldn’t be allowed to know anything of it though.

“Sorry, It’s just that Kim’s coming over here today and I kinda guess I spaced out a little?” That wasn’t a lie. Kim was coming over to deliver some flowers and he was happy about it, really, but with Jack being like that he just couldn’t seem to get excited over anything. It was frustrating.

“So now not only Wade, but you too have a girlfriend. Please don’t do anything weird close to me or I might puke.”

“Aw, is little Felix maybe a teensy bit jealous?” Mark stood up and totally got into Felix face with a ridiculously bright smile.

“Spare me your sarcasm” The highborne pushed him away.

“Alright then, let’s shake hands on it” All traces of confidence left the blonde man as he looked at Mark, finally a little uncertainty shining through. Mark kept his bright smile as he put his hand out in a challenging gesture. “Come on”. After a moment of hesitation Felix reached out but kept his gaze locked with Marks as he slowly grasped his hand. Only that, it wasn’t there anymore. Mark continued moving it around, enjoying every moment of pain it caused the highlander.

The game went on until at last Felix collapsed, shouting “I get it already, just stop!” Mark smiled “You’ve got surprisingly good manners for someone so mean my dear friend”

“Shut up” Felix pouted as he shoved his hands into his pockets and stared at a suddenly incredibly interesting wall. That was the moment Wade choose to poke his head in through the door

“Felix, you know that you and Mark are supposed to sort the new wares today right?”

Felix shot the retreating Wade an evil glare before turning to Mark, obviously sulking. “Alright, come here” he said as he led him through the kitchen and out the back door.

Mark shot one last glance at Jack before going into the kitchen. The highborne didn’t look up and continued to work, refusing to look away from his invention even though he must’ve felt Mark looking at him. He sighed and closed the door behind him.

The delivery was already there with loads of boxes in differing sizes piled outside the door. Mark recognized at least 20 different models and sizes of gears and also some boxes that he knew were for Jacks project.

The planks creaked unsettlingly when Felix stepped down to start carry the boxes inside and Mark found himself acutely aware of how close they were to the deep cold ocean water. He could glimpse the waves from in between the planks and for a moment it looked like the thin wood moved with them. A wave of nausea washed over him as he carefully put a foot down onto the makeshift ground. Oh god. It actually bent a little under his weight.

“Is the little Markimoo scared?” A sassy voice wafted through the air and Mark looked up to meet a Felix in tip top shape. He actually looked both stronger and happier. His eyes reflected in the bright sunlight and Mark could’ve sworn that they looked at least a couple of shades bluer than normal. “Seriously. This is just one more reason you can’t be with Jack” He sighed and started piling boxes next to Mark.

“What?” Before he realized Mark had made his way out onto the planks and was standing next to, or rather in the way of, Felix. “What are you trying to say?” Felix merely laughed and made his way past him to balance at the very edge of the planks. Staring down into the water.

For a second Mark thought that Felix wouldn’t answer but apparently he was in a talkative mood today. Without breaking his pose he said “Do you believe in legends Mark?

“Yes”

Felix hummed. “Then. Have you ever read about the crystal kingdom?

Mark wondered where this was going but answered all the same “Yes.”

“If that’s the case” Felix turned around. Piercing blue cutting through his soul. “Do you know what happened that day. 10 000 years ago?”

“No” This wasn’t good. He could see how the highlander grew more and more agitated every second that he spoke.

“I thought so. Have you ever wondered why the gods forsake us? Why we didn’t have any memories? Haven’t you ever asked yourself if there existed something before you?”

“I-I have, but wha..” he got interrupted “What’s the use, right? That was what you were going to say.” he clicked his tongue “This is exactly why you humans will keep getting swallowed.”

“What? What do you mean swallowed?” Felix let out a frustrated growl as he stepped forward and grabbed Mark by the collar, his eyes verging on crazed. “You. You, humans, are making history repeat itself! Don’t you see? The moon is returning and with it this place will drown” This was too much. Felix had pushed him so he was standing way too close to the edge of the makeshift floor. All of the information mixed with nausea and he desperately tried to struggle against Felixs steel grip as his brain short circuited. “Please. Let me go.”

“Tch. I knew it, you’re just as useless as anticipated” Suddenly Felix let go of his collar and at first relief washed over him. Until he realized that he was falling backwards. The world went into slow motion as the sky gave way to dark blue waves. The last thing Mark heard Felix say was muted but still clear to his adrenaline filled senses “No matter. I’ll save Jack myself”

“Jack” Mark clung to the warm name as freezing currents sucked him down into the dark depths of the sea.

————————————————————————————————————————

Cold. He was so cold. Why wasn’t he dead? Everywhere around him, sides, bottom, there was darkness but high above turquoise light filtered in. It was so beautiful, he wanted to reach out to it but something was restraining him. It hurt in his chest but his lungs were filled. Mark let out a soundless sigh as he gazed up at the light, it was dimming. He was starting to fade away..but it did not matter. He had failed at everything. Jack. Kim. Warm tears mixed with the dark water as Mark breathed in the cold and let sleep take him.

————————————————————————————————————————

Something was stirring in the water. The currents whimpered and died out, stopped playing with the lifeless mans hair as they covered before what was nearing. A dot of turquoise whirled closer, turning around and letting out a squeak as it found what it was looking for. The tiny creature bobbed up and down in the now calm water, upset.

Soon a human figure neared, it’s face covered by the dark water but two shining blue eyes prominent. Slim hands grabbed the still body and swam upwards, holding it tight to its chest. “Please don’t die”

————————————————————————————————————————

Too bright. The light shone through his closed eyelids. He wanted to shield himself from it and put up a hand in defense of the assault. The light warmed his cold body and as heat started to pump through him Mark sucked in a sharp breath of air. He could breathe. What had happened? His mind was fuzzy and large chunks of information was obviously missing. He could remember hands. First frustrated hands, those that had grabbed him by the collar and let him fall...and then an almost lost memory of gentle hands, whisking him out of the water and saving him.

What had Felix said that last time before he fell? Mark felt that it was extremely important. “Useless” “Moon” “Save” words kept popping into his head but it was hard to put them into a sentence. It was really and truly frustrating. Mark put his hands over his still closed eyes and let out a low groan. Why couldn’t he remember?

He should give up for now. Mark let out a tired sigh as he scooted himself up on his elbows and slowly opened his eyes only to quickly close them again. It was no use. Everything was too bright. He let himself fall back onto the whatever he was lying on. Come to think of it. He didn’t even know where he was.

The thing he was lying on was soft and fluffy, like a marshmallow. He patted it just to check and stated that it had to be a bed. He tried moving one of his arms and discovered that something was attached to it. Muffled voices were filtering in from the other side of something and the scent of medicine filled his nose with every breath. This could only be one thing. He was at one of the city hospitals, currently being treated for damage related to almost drowning. It was too much information. Mark decided to sleep on it.

————————————————————————————————————————

Loud voices penetrated his mind right in the deepest sleep. He could hear what they were saying but couldn’t act to make them realize that he was listening. The abrupt wakening had put him in a state of sleep paralysis and he couldn’t help but listen. Only that it made him feel incredibly guilty, as if listening in on something he wasn’t supposed to hear.

“What tha actual fook were ye thinkin?”

“I don’t know. I though that he would swim back up. How the hell was I supposed to know that he couldn’t swim?!”

“Ye should’ve thought ‘o that before fooking pushing him!”

“Look, I know you care about that landling but...” the voice quietened down to an agitated whisper “he was starting to know too much. I didn’t want to kill him I..” The voice was searching for words. “I only wanted him to be scared”

“Scared ‘o what? There’s no way ‘e could ever find out ‘bout us. Not by himself.”

“No. Not by himself” the voice hesitated for a moment “I just want you to be safe.”

“Don’t worry ‘bout me. I promise Felix. We will go back home”

Now Mark recognized the voices. Jack and Felix. But what were they doing here? No, that was obvious. The question was “What the hell were they talking about?” He tried to speak but his body wouldn’t listen, but maybe that was for the best, this seemed like a private matter. He desperately tried not to listen but he couldn’t help but hear Felixs mumbled response to Jacks promise “that’s what I’m afraid of”

It was obvious that Jack didn’t hear what Felix had just said as he didn’t say anything back. But what was Felix so afraid of? Didn’t he want to go home (wherever that was)?  
Marks thoughts were interrupted by someone walking over and placing something to the left of him. “Mark, I’m so sorry for gettin so angry with ye. I’m sure that ye blamed it all on yerself and...I don’t want that. I know ye can’t hear me now but I want ye ta know that it’s not yer fault. Nothing has ever been.” The words were meant for him and only him and Mark drank in every single one of them. Oh, if only Jack knew that he could hear him. Would he ever had said those things then?

Someone sniffled and Jack excused himself before leaving the room. Now he was alone with a potential murderer. Great.

When the door had closed Felix shifted uneasily but didn’t move from his position. A moment of silence followed but soon it was broken by Felixs voice. It was shakier than usual. “Hey, Mark. If you’re just trolling me and pretending to sleep I’m going to slap you” Mark lay silent and Felix sighed. He sounded...tired.

“Mark, I just want you to know that I didn’t mean to actually hurt you. I never meant to do you any harm. I was just so..so..frustrated.” He really sounded hurt. “You are a good guy, I know that, and that’s exactly why I wanted to trust you, you know? I’m sure Wade has already spilled the beans but Jack is trying to do some really crazy shit.“ Felix let out a shaky laugh that made his voice crack “ He’s obsessed and can no longer see clear. Not even with my help. That’s why I want you to. No. I need you to save him. What he’s trying to do is both crazy and selfish. I know you can’t hear me but I beg of you. Please don’t let him do this, because he’s going to regret it his whole life”

Silence. He almost thought that Felix wouldn’t continue. But just as his mind started to wander off a voice broke the silence once again.

“I have a hard time trusting you y’know? Jack is extremely important to me and I’ve both seen and heard enough to know that not everyone has given up on legends. But that’s not necessarily a good thing. I can’t let Jack know, but..if something happens and I can’t be there. Then, please protect him.” ... “I wish you could hear me now.” He laughed. “I can’t possibly tell you all of this again face to face”

He could hear him alright and he was absolutely overwhelmed, and a little scared. So what Wade had said was actually true? Jack was doing something crazy and Felix might just have redeemed himself for his sins. Though Mark highly doubted that he was such a good guy.   
His thoughts raced at the speed of light as his poor brain tried to analyze all of the information at once. Mark trusted Felix but needed more information. He suspected that when he walked out of the hospital Felix would revert to his old nasty ways and shut himself like a clam. No information from there. It was decided then. Since Wade wasn’t going to help and Jack couldn’t be allowed to know anything back to the library it was. “Sounds nice enough” Mark thought to himself as he fell back into sleep.

————————————————————————————————————————  
The days came and went and so did the visitors. Kim and Wade visited regularly and always brought either chocolate or flowers. Felix, as anticipated, didn’t come to visit unless going with Jack. All of this made Mark incredibly happy but what made him close to glad that he had almost drowned was that Jack finally seemed to have left their argument behind and now visited almost as often as Kim, filling his ears with happy small talk and news from the shop. Bob also came to visit once or twice but it always got awkward so he never stayed very long.

One day when Jack was sitting in his usual position in a chair next to Mark, talking about something with power transforming, Mark didn’t really listen to the words, there was a light knock on the door. Jack went to look up who it was but the situation worried him. The hospital staff didn’t usually come by here this time of day.

A knot started forming in his stomach as he sharpened his ears and tried to hear what Jack was saying. It failed, but at least he didn’t sound upset.

When Jack closed the door and returned to the bed he looked confounded. “Who was it?” Mark couldn’t help but ask. “Just someone askin fer a ‘Markiplier’. I told him that there was none like that here and he ran away....what ‘s it?” Mark had paled upon hearing the familiar name. It was a nickname from times long gone, happier times. The only one that used to call him that was...no..it couldn’t be. “Mark?” Jack looked at him, worry clear in his blue eyes. Maybe he shouldn’t ask. It was a shot in the dark, but he had to know. “Tell me, what did that man look like?”

Jack looked at him, clearly puzzled by his strange interest in the visitor. “I dunno. He ran away as soon as he saw ye” he paused for a second “but I’m quite sure that ‘e was wearing a dark brown coat wit’ leather cog wheels. Model 45.” Of course Jack would notice the cog wheels. Mark smiled, strangely only a little worried about the mans sudden disappearance. I will investigate that later, he thought. Right now, there was something much more interesting to look at. 

Jack was back in his chair, but his usually bright eyes were clouded by something. Mark wanted to know what, but as he leaned forward his eyes locked with Jacks and he thought he could see something shifting in them, but it was gone before he could identify it. 

Jack didn’t do anything to resist the contact, looking just as enchanted as Mark, but eventually something seemed to click as he literally bounced backwards and almost fell off the chair in his hurry to escape the area.

It was not until the sound of the heavy hospital door shutting closed hit his ears that Mark truly awoke. He was shocked. Yes. But more than that he was...disappointed in himself, and maybe slightly confused. He had made Jack feel awkward again. Why couldn’t he stop this madness?

Mark sighed and fell back down onto his bed. He was almost fine now. Tomorrow he was going to leave this place, hopefully never to return. He was going to find out about what the hell Jack was trying to do and why it was so dangerous, and then, when all this shit was over he would settle down, live a peaceful life and never ever get involved with crazy co-workers or murderous friends ever again.


	9. Scuttle bug

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mark gets attacked and tries to bend metal with willpower

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello ^^. Here is the new chapter. Wahoo..
> 
> But, um, *kicks stone* I’m so so sorry about posting this late. School’s been an asshole but now I think that its over. So hopefully I can go back to posting every Wednesday. 
> 
> But more importantly, I just have to say thank you (!!!) for all the kudos. It makes me so happy to get that mail saying I got a kudo. It seriously makes my day :) I hope that you will continue enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoy writing it and know that, I actually have kind of a plan for this. So everything will be explained..someday *averts eyes*
> 
> Until then, Septiplier away!!

When Mark entered the shop that Monday he was almost immediately hit by something hard. Shock quickly shifted into irritation and then surprise as he first looked for the one behind the attack. When he didn’t find anyone he crouched to pick up the offending object.

It was the scuttle bug. The tiny guy was completely fixed and polished up. The inscriptions on its back glistened in the early morning sun as the mechanical bug shook itself. Mark was absolutely enthralled by the little creature and poked it lightly. Tiny gears clicked as the poor bug fell upside down. It let out an offended puff of steam at the assault before stilling, awaiting assistance.

Mark chuckled at the bug and turned it back over. The robot clicked happily as it started wandering around on his palm, apparently content with the limited area. It was a joy to watch so Mark stayed crouched on the floor. Watching the tiny guy explore the same spot for the third time.

A snicker made both Mark and the bug look up. Mark couldn’t immediately see anyone, but apparently the scuttle bug could. Quite slowly it lifted from his hand and started to fly towards a row of shelves. It was incredibly silent and he barely had any time to marvel on the incredible work that must’ve been put on creating the bug before a shout followed by laughter was heard from the other side of the shelves. When Mark rounded them he had quite a hard time preventing himself from laughing out loud. There on the floor sat Jack, his legs and arms drawn together in a protective gesture. The first impression was that he was sad, but if you looked closer you could see how his eyes glittered with held back laughter. On his head stood the scuttle bug. Shining with pride at its first catch.

“Seems like I got caught” Jack looked up at Mark, mischief still present in his eyes. For a second Mark couldn’t believe his ears, was Jack actually talking to him after what had happened last Saturday? “Y-Yeah, looks like you got taken out good” he managed to say. He couldn’t allow himself to fuck this up again. Trying to act as normal as possible Mark leaned forward and scratched the scuttle bug, it clicked happily and climbed onto Marks outstretched index finger.

When he looked back at Jack their eyes met briefly. The highborne had a strange distant look in his eyes and Mark realized that maybe Jack had been looking at him the whole time. The thought made him strangely flustered so he coughed awkwardly and averted his eyes. The action woke Jack up and Mark thought that maybe the other man turned one shade redder as he mimicked him and averted his eyes. At first Mark thought that he wouldn’t say anything and started to make his way past him, better escape before he did something stupid. However, Jack had other plans.

“Wait a sec Mark.” Mark stopped but didn’t turn. Anxious as to what Jack was about to say. “I understand if ye don’t want ta. But would ye like ta start workin’ on tha project wit me again?”

He had not expected that, so he couldn’t control his reaction. All doubt gone with the wind he whirled around and practically pounced on Jack. Knocking the air out of the poor man. “Yes, I really really want to!” Mark released his death grip on the highborne in favour of bouncing happily. “When will we start? What are we going to make? Which parts are finished? Wh-“

Jack cut him off with a laugh. “Shush Mark. Yer gonna wake the bear” he pointed towards the resting area where Wade was snoozing. A sleep deprived Wade was worse than a coffee deprived Felix, and that was saying something.

“I’ll show ye” Jack whispered and nodded towards the door to the working area. Scuttle bug on head Mark followed, feeling like a ninja when he and Jack sneaked through the shop, Jack whispering excitedly about his advances in the project. Mark answered where appropriate, but really, he was just happy that Jack was there beside him.

——————————————

In the end Mark was surprised at the small amount of work that Jack had gotten done. It was still impressive though as the stuff he was trying to create was anything but easy. “Impressive amount of work you’ve gotten done here” He commented in a teasing voice as he made his way over to the packed working table, inspecting everything on the way.

Jack chuckled “’s not like I’m a machine Mark”

“Really? Because I’m not sure that anything but that could create inventions this perfect” Wait. Did he just flirt with Jack? Luckily enough the highborne didn’t seem to notice as he laughed lightly and sat down opposite him. He then pulled out a couple of rolled up papers from in under the different invention parts that littered the table. After a second of mumbling to himself he picked one and rolled it out in front of Mark.

“Look at this.” He pointed at what resembled a lantern. It was in pure gold, the glass was a deep blue and curly patterns unlike any Mark had ever seen seemed to flow out of the delicate handle and down onto the corners of the glass windows. Something was missing inside, another part Mark guessed. “What is it?” Mark couldn’t keep himself from asking. If what Jack was creating really wasn’t what he made it out to be then he needed the answers, and if not that, at least a reaction.

He wasn’t disappointed. Apparently Jack wasn’t good at keeping a poker face and Mark could literally see how he paled slightly at the question. Jack let out a nervous laugh. “Well, y’see.” He scratched his neck. “Um...”

Mark really wanted to tell the highborne that it was alright. He didn’t have to tell. But the truth was that he really needed to know. Mark had to know or a least get a clue about what was going on or he was going to go mad before all of this ended.

After quite a long while of looking both scared and conflicted Jack let out a sigh and finally looked up at Mark. “I-I. Okay. I haven’t told ye everything...and I may ‘ave lied to ye.” He was searching for words “what I’m actually creating ‘s..” Another pause. Geez, this sure was really hard for him to say. “I’m creatin a power magnifier” Jack mumbled. So quietly that Mark almost didn’t catch it. He sighed. “Jack. That’s hardly something to be so secret about”

The highlander looked slightly taken aback and at first Mark thought that he would protest. But then laughter filled the room as Jack smiled, clearly relieved. “Man, an I was so scared bout it” Why though? Mark didn’t dare ask but as he took a closer look at the drawings that littered the table he came to realize that a lot of them actually didn’t have anything to do with cleansing an aquamarine. He doubted that all of them were required for a power magnifier as well.

As he looked at the drawings the scuttle bug whirred to life and flew down to land on the table. It then went around and explored everything from nails to copper wiring, clicking happily in the process. Jack seemed distracted by the bug and Mark took the chance to order his lenses to snap a picture of the closer drawings. Just as the pictures saved Jack looked up at him. Something shifted in his face when he met Marks gaze and for a second it looked like he paled slightly. However the moment passed quickly and Jack averted his gaze to look at the scuttle bug.

Had he realized? The thought made Marks heart skip a beat as his mind started to race, he had to say something. “He’s a happy little fella that one” He mentally slapped himself. What was he saying?

Jack, blissfully unaware of Marks internal conflict chuckled and patted the bug lightly with one finger “Ye, he sure is” he grinned “I’m kinda proud o him”. That’s right, the scuttle bug had been broken when Mark had found it. “Was it you that fixed him?” Jack nodded, pride shining through as he let the bug walk onto his hand and lifted it. “Tis little guy was all broken down when I found im. He’s yours right?” Mark nodded. Amazing, Jack had actually managed to fix it. He had tried repairing the poor bug several times but it had always failed, he just couldn’t find a power source that was strong enough. His engineering brain kicked in as he carefully took the scuttle bug from Jacks outstretched hand and inspected it.

The scuttle bug didn’t appreciate the attention and let out offended puffs of steam as it’s wings were lifted, it got tilted and turned in every angle and every leg was carefully looked at. “This is incredible, I can’t recall ever having seen someone being able to repair these bugs.” Come to think of it. Mark had seen plenty of these standing in the tinkering shops around town, but they were all broken. He wondered why.

Jack interrupted his thoughts. “Well, what can I say. I’m just t’at incredible.” He shot Mark a goofy smile that he immediately returned “Oh, if you just gave me some time I would’ve been able to fix it” he shook his head “but jokes aside. How did you repair it? I’ve seen lots of these, but never one that actually works”

“Well” Jack reached for the scuttle bug, accidentally nudging Marks hand in the process. He ignored the the extra thump in his chest in favour of watching what Jack was doing. “If ye turn it like t’is” he turned the scuttle bug slightly to the left while still holding on to its legs. Upon doing so the bugs wings popped up “And then do t’is” he kept the bug turned but pressed the wings back down. When he did a small hatch flipped open on the scuttle bugs head. Something was glowing in it. Mark reached out for the tiny light but his hand got lightly swatted away by Jack.

“See t’is?” Jack tilted the still scuttle bug towards Mark and pointed at the hatch. Something was placed in it but it was glowing so strongly that he couldn’t make out what it was. He nodded anyway. “T’is s a power gem. More specifically, a ruby. ‘S the power source to drive this lil guy” Jack patted the scuttle bug lightly.

“But people have already tried that.” Mark was confused. Power gems weren’t exactly a rare sight here. It was the main drive of almost any machine, there was no way that the solution to the bug problem could be that simple, he had tried it himself.

“Well. Y’see” Jack smiled at Marks dumbfounded expression. “Tis’s no ordinary power gem.” He pressed a tiny button and the gem popped loose “This is a clear ruby. Or rather.“ He flipped it “A shard o a clear ruby.” He dropped it in Marks palm.

The shard pulsated with warmth. As it lay in his palm he could feel his robotic parts staring to sparkle with energy. To think that such a tiny thing could hold so much power. Carefully, afraid to somehow dispel the magic, Mark picked up and inspected it. The crystal itself was, like Jack said, only a shard with rough edges and many faults. It was glowing with a red light that Mark only realized just now matched his hair. A faint tint of purple darkened the crystal somewhat, but to Mark it only made it all the more beautiful.

“Amazing” he locked eyes with Jack “you’re fucking amazing Jack!” The pale man looked completely baffled at Marks sudden outburst and didn’t have time to react before he was bombarded with questions “How did you make it? How did you know how to fix it?....Where did you find it?

Silence.

As the room went quiet Marks happiness subsided. What had he asked again? Slowly, carefully he glanced at Jack. The highlander seemed to be on the verge of telling something.

“I-I found it when I was walking down by tha water, they aren’t that rare of a sight there, the cryst..” Mark interrupted him. “The scuttle bug? Did you find him there?”

Jack looked taken aback. For a moment he just gaped at Mark but managed to catch his wits quick enough for the pause to barely be noticeable. “Yea” Suddenly his eyes seemed to tear up. “I-I went searchin for it, when, when I thought ye were gone.” He shot him a quick but sad smile. “Ye were always carryin it around. I wanted ta finish yer project. I-in case ye wouldn’t .. come back” the highlander was on the verge of tears and at last it made Marks walls crumble. He couldn’t ask anything more of this man.

“What do you say we start working on this project?” He reached forward and pressed the ruby into the other mans hand. “You don’t have to be alone Jack”

  
———————————————————————————————————————-

Damn this lantern! For the third time in an hour Mark deconstructed the base. Why couldn’t he make this work? It was like the lantern itself worked against him as parts disappeared, things suddenly didn’t fit and plating changed shape. To make things worse happy humming was heard from the other side of the table as Jack put together part after part with no trouble.

“Jaaaack” Mark slumped on the table. “Please help”

“Has the almighty engineer reached his limit?” Jack grinned as he put away his tools and went over to stand by him. A moment of silence followed as Jack inspected the mess and then clicked his tongue. “Mark, yer working too much against th’ metal”

“What?” During all his years of engineering Mark had never been told that. “Yea. Y’see. This ‘s no ordinary material. It’s drenched gold.” Mark stared at him blankly “Please clarify”

“S gold that’s been submerged in deep water fer many thousands of years inheriting tha essence of th’ ocean.” He looked at Mark “It is as hard ta tame as th’ oceans currents. But if ye work wit it...” he grabbed hold of the metal and let his hands glide over it gently. “It becomes as fluent as water” to Marks amazement the metal started to take shape as Jack carefully worked it upwards into spires. “I’m surprised that ye didn’t know bout it”

A spark of excitement lighted inside Mark as he watched Jack work. He wanted to try it himself. He picked a sheet of gold and tried to mimic Jacks movements. Up, down, circle, repeat. The metal pulsated slightly under his palms but didn’t move, at least not in the way it should. Instead of becoming beautiful spires the metal bent into weird angles. The end result resembled a pained octopus more than anything else. Mark shot the metal an evil glare.

He spent a good while trying to shape the metal with pure willpower but when it didn’t work he let out a small sigh and slumped a little. Why couldn’t he ever be of use? Jack would be better of doing this himself. He di.. his self loathing got interrupted abruptly as two warm hands placed themselves over his own. Warmth pressed into his back and light puffs of air tickled his ear. Shit. What was happening.

“Look” heavy accent made his senses go numb as Jack moved his hands, working the metal into a beautiful shape. But Mark couldn’t focus. His heart was pounding into his ears and bolts of electricity weakened his knees until he knew that he wouldn’t be able to stand anytime soon. His mind was quickly fading into a fuzzy warmth as his eyes became slightly unfocused.

Suddenly everything stopped. The metal had been shaped and the warmth that had surrounded him was gone. Mark shook his head as his senses returned to him and scratched his head. What the hell had just happened? He recalled shaping something and then. He scrambled for words. Engraving? something into it. His eyes found Jack that was back in his position on the other side of the table, he was absorbed by what seemed to be a cylinder made of glass and didn’t look up when Mark looked at him.

The hell? It hadn’t all been a dream right? Mark searched the table for any proof of the recent happenings..but it was all gone. In front of him sat the hell of a lantern and glared at him. Mocking his confusion. Damn it all. Mark pushed himself away from the table and walked out the door. He had to get some fresh air.

When the door shut closed Jack leaned forward, clutching his head and as the final light of dawn painted the man golden it reflected onto what had previously been hidden in his shadow. There, carefully tucked into his bag, the shape of a golden lantern peeked out. Two names were engraved in it. Mark and Jack. 

 


	10. Another (equally dusty) library visit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mark goes to the library and finaly gets some real clues!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *hides* ok..so... hi *waves* I’m really really late and really not so sure how to get everything to make sense anymore. I’m sorry that my plot making thingy is such a mess but I really hope its still enjoyable. I have a goal in mind I promise, and I really like it so I hope that you’ll have patience with me *bows* you guys are really amazing. 
> 
> A-anyways. I’ve really tried to make this chapter kind of like the place where the damn story actually (slowly) start to get on track. 
> 
> Oh, and about further updates.. I’m not sure how much time I’ll be able to put on writing but I’ll do my best! Hopefully I’ll be able to update at least once every week if my studies are kind to me *walks off*
> 
> *rushes back* just a warning, this chapter hasnt been proofread and its also really late and I just finished itandIreallywannaeatsomegarlicbread
> 
> Bye ( ˚^˚)/

“Mornin” Mark slid his bag onto one of the hangers in the working area of the shop. “Top o the mornin to ya”, a cheery voice with a strong accent shouted from behind some shelves. 

Mark chuckled and made himself comfortable by the working table, he really was interesting that highborne. Only a few seconds after Mark had sat down Jack emerged from his hiding place, the thin man was balancing at least 10 different boxes in front of him and would’ve walked straight into a wall had Mark not gone over there to turn him the other way. For some reason touching the other man sent a tingling through his body but Mark decided to let it slide, this was hardly the time to question his sexuality. 

Once Jack safely had placed the boxes on the table and were in no more immediate danger of walking into something Mark let his curiosity slip through as he gestured towards the mess of squares “what’re they?”. Jack perked up at the question and let a big smile light up his face “the’re fer the second part o’ our project”

“Oh?, what’s the plan chief?” Mark shot Jack a goofy smile as he started unpacking the boxes. “Well, y’see..” A cheerful tune interrupted Jack as the icon of the city’s library popped up in front of Mark. 

At first Mark couldn’t quite understand what was happening, he had been so focused on the highborne that the idea of interacting with something else completely escaped him. However, as his mind started to reboot he put the pieces together and his heartbeat sped up “The books!” Jack looked completely lost “its the books Jack!” He almost grabbed a hold of the smaller man but in the nick of time changed the gesture to instead slip his bag back on and run out the door only to halfway through the shop make a sharp u turn past a schocked Wade and shout “Sorry Jack but I’m taking the day off”

That morning was a particularly foggy one and as Mark hurried through the streets he only narrowly avoided running into sleepy citizens and a couple of the so common weirdly placed pipes. The air was heavy with moisture that created small droplets of water on his coat and would’ve chilled him to the bones had he not been warmed up with excitement. Finally something was going his way! He did feel pretty bad about leaving Jack like that though and as he pulled his coat tighter Mark made a mental note to buy him his favourite coffee tomorrow.

The library was as sleepy as a library could be. That being said it was so quiet that had not the door said “open” and the angry lady been there glaring daggers at him as soon as he entered he would’ve turned around in the belief that it was closed. Now however he saw that there was at least some minimal action as a sleepy librarian almost walked into a big potted plant with her books as she was distracted by the tiny vacuum cleaner whooshing around. From the cafeteria the soft sound of voices and the musky scent of coffee wafted by and as he started to make his way over to the desk where he was supposed to get his books a feeling of incredible coziness enveloped him. With a smile not short of angelic he waved to the angry lady as he passed by and chuckled as she fired her shotgun in his face, alright she didn’t do that but judging from her stupidly angry eyes he guessed she had killed him at least 500 times by now.

“Mark!” As he approached the desk a cheery voice called out from seemingly nowhere. Only moments later a mess of red hair poked up as the guy named Patrick pulled up a tall stack of rather heavy looking books. The scrawny man almost fell backwards from the weight and for a second Mark got the urge to step behind him and prevent a disaster. But before he could do anything Patrick let the books fall down on the desk and focused his emerald eyes on him “You sure were quick”

“What can I say, my old book fetish suddenly resurfaced” Mark chuckled and rested his hands on the desk. “So, what do you have for me?” Patrick pushed back his glasses in an iconic gesture as he started going through pile.

”We’ve got Poems and prophecies of old, Ms. Berthas cookbook and The culture of the mountains.” 

Mark looked at the giant pile of books and then back at the redhead. “And the other books?”

“Excuse me?” Mark nodded toward the pile of books “not all of these are mine, why did you put so many over here?” 

Patrick blinked. “Well.. there was this guy that wanted to borrow them, I saw you together just a couple days ago outside the shop and thought that maybe you were here to get them for him” now that sparked Marks interest “really? Is he the one that had these books before me?” He motioned toward his books. Patrick tilted his head in response “ya”

Growing ever more excited Mark now leaned across the desk and locked eyes with the now slightly uncomfortable librarian. “Tell me, what did he look like?” 

Patrick leaned backwards, away from Mark “wow you’re scaring me. The green pale guy? With the blue eyes?” Patrick gestured to his eyes “strange person, nice but so quiet. I’ve never seen one with eyes quite like that too. He could be a highborne.. but they’re so blue. At first I thought he was some kind of merman or something” Patrick chuckled and pushed back his glasses again “You know, you’re awfully interested in these books.. and that person” The librarian got a dangerous look in his eyes as he leaned in closer, forcing Mark to move “I could help, I’ve got information” he placed a hand over Marks “we’ve got information” 

For some reason Mark doubted that the “We” he was referring to was the two of them and to be honest he didn’t need to get involved in anything more risky than he already had “I’ll try to manage on my own, thanks” he carefully pushed away the strange youngsters hand “I can take those books though”

Strangely Patrick didn’t seem to mind being shut down at all, he just leaned back again and with a big smile motioned towards the books “yes Sir, but I will need a written approval of you taking them or I can’t let the books leave the library” Mark cursed, goddammit, of course. Well, it didn’t really matter. He could read them here as good as anywhere. “Alright, I was going to get them for him as a surprise but I guess it can’t be helped then” Patrick looked slightly apologetic “I’m afraid that’s true” Mark sighed “tellya what. There is no need for him to know I was here today. That will just make him go all crazy over me helping him too much and so on” He locked eyes with Patrick “so if you treasure our friendship at all please keep it a secret that I was here” that may have been slightly overdramatic but it had the desired effect as the librarian straightened and said “you can trust me!”

Mark relaxed slightly and smiled “thanks pal” without thinking he reached over and ruffled the guys hair before picking up the books and shuffling further into the library. “Now let’s see what Jack has been up to”

————————————————————————————————————————

When Mark reached his little secluded balcony (which he preferred to refer to as “the fortress”) a cloud of dust immediately invaded his lungs and face. Coughing terribly he barely parried some shelves and swatted away an angry squirrel before his sight finally cleared and he found his way to the small table by the railing. “Geez, why the hell is it always so dusty here?” Only sparing the area a quick glance Mark dusted of the table and went about sorting through the books. Apart from the three he got 5 titles were listed

“Ancient Myths of Eilith”  
“The Depths of Invention: Underwater travel”

Following were 3 parts of a collection of books containing what was to Mark completely incomprehensible drawings. They were named “The lost chronicles of technology” and were written in a peculiar language that he vaguely recognized as Old speech, the language of old Eilith. There was one problem though, even though Old speech was relatively easy for a modern Eilithian to comprehend Mark barely got any of this. It was like some kind of twisted version.. Mark spent a good hour trying to translate any of the words but when he got “your mother is a fish” for the fourth time he almost tossed the damn book right off the balcony. 

“There has to be an easier way to get around this” Mark muttered to himself. Of course, he could always ask Patrick for help, he seemed awfully insistent on “helping” him but he really, like really, didn’t like the way Patrick had looked at him when saying “we”. Just thinking of it gave him goosebumps. Nope. That definitely wasn’t a way to go. So instead Mark did what any Mark in his situation would’ve done. He cursed a whole lot and then went looking for some kind, any kind, of dictionary that could help him. 

In the end the only thing Mark found were more strange, and equally useless, books, a couple of animals wanting him dead and a really murderous hole in the floor that had him stuck, foot hanging free much to high up in the air until he after several seconds of seeing death flash before his eyes pulled it back up and fell backwards.

As he fell down on the floor his eyes found the ceiling and an incredible feeling of failure washed over him. His ankle hurt, he didn’t want to do this anymore. He still had 4 books, excluding Ms. Berthas cookbook, to research. Something that usually would’ve fired him up good but now he just wanted them to disappear. Letting out a deep sigh Mark closed his eyes, searching for some sort of calm but soon the hazy green of a certain mans hair appeared and as electric blue smiled at him happily Mark sighed and opened his eyes. “I’m sorry Jack, I can’t do this right now”   
Feeling quite shitty he made his way back to the table, eyes fixated on the dusty wooden floor. 

Right as he was passing by a large beautifully crafted bookshelf the signature scraping sound of furniture moving made him snap his head back up, instantly at attention. Someone was over by his table. Switching on his sneaky mode he inched closer, heartbeat steadily rising.

When he was at the corner of the last bookshelf he pressed as close to it as he possibly could, listening. Were they still there? 

Not a sound.

Either they had heard him ages ago and already left or they were extremely silent. Come to think of it, why was he hiding anyway? This was a public library, he was acting really suspicious sneaking around like this. The person on the other side was probably only an ordinary visitor, but he still couldn’t shake the feeling that it wasn’t a mere coincidence that someone was here at this exact moment. 

What was he supposed to do? One thing was for sure, he couldn’t keep standing here but he didn’t really feel like waltzing in there and reveal himself just like that. So Mark decided to do something that was neither. He tried pushing books aside to get a glimpse through the shelves. A mighty wooden wall obstructed him. He tried sending the scuttle bug. It almost got eaten by a squirrel. At last Mark stood on his tip toes and tried to look over the shelf. A strategy that turned out to be quite disastrous as he lost balance and toppled the whole thing.

When Mark finally recovered from the heavy punch of knowledge he got by a couple encyclopedias in his head the area was, surprising no one, empty. 

Mark sighed as he stood up and dusted off his clothes, maybe he wasn’t quite as sneaky as he had first imagined. The happening however had cleared his head quite a bit and now he felt ready to at least try and read some of the books he had accumulated. Jack could come and get them any day now after all.

However, there was one thought that required his immediate attention. Had there been someone here? and in that case.. who? Scratching the scuttle bugs head to activate it he asked it to search for clues as to what had actually happened here. 

Only a few moments later a tiny click sounded and when Mark walked over to the bug it was walking around in a rather large footprint by the stairs. Furthermore the dusty area between the table and the stairs was filled with lookalikes and when he inspected the closest chair it showed clear signs of having been dragged, or even pushed away. Whoever had been here had clearly been surprised by his shelf toppling business, who wouldn’t, really. Mark chuckled slightly at the thought of how stupid he had been, he really should’ve just peeked out instead of tying to be all complicated.

Letting the thought leave his mind he tried to visualize the happenings. So, this man, he assumed it was a man judging by the large footprints, had arrived sometime when he had been gone searching for a dictionary. 

Going through the assumed actions of the visitor Mark followed the footprints. First they led to a really old creaky bookshelf which Mark had fittingly named “mr. Creaky”. There they stopped before turning around and stopping at several other bookshelves. The man had been searching for something. 

After having walked past almost every bookshelf on the balcony, carefully avoiding the areas he had been in Mark found himself back at the table, staring at a rather small, water damaged book, an ancient symbol up front.

—————————

“What’s this?” Mar mumbled as he bent down to gently pick up the fragile looking book. Dusting off its cover he read “Lunar calling”. Lunar calling? What did that even mean? Mark really didn’t need any more mysteries but the name had sparked an interest in him. However he was to be disappointed. The first of the pages as well as every other he hurried past turned out blank. “The hell?!” Why had someone left their unwritten diary here? Mark grumbled as he grudgingly put the disappointing book in his bag, it could (it better) be useful after all.

With not much else to do Mark picked up the first of Jacks books, the one that read “Ancient Myths of Eilith”. The rather thick book had a delicately decorated cover where multiple silver vines twisted around each other, creating a framework around the main piece. Inside the vines was the ocean. A black glass mirror reflecting the light of the great moon above. It was stunning. Instantly captured Mark let his fingertips lightly grace the piece of art. Upon doing so he removed a spot of dust that had previously blocked the lower parts of the painting. What was revealed made him freeze. 

Delicate crystal spires of diamond, sapphire, ruby and citrine sprouted upwards toward the oceans surface. A crystal kingdom perfectly reflected the beauty of the skies and waters above as it seemed to shine brighter and brighter under his gaze. Upon watching the bright city a song started playing in Marks mind, a lullaby that his mothers used to sing to him when he was still a kid.

Almost without noticing Mark had brought out his own book “Poems and prophecies of old” he flipped through it until he reached the, slightly worn out, page where the lyrics of “The Crystal Kingdom” was written.

Deep in the ocean, far from here.  
Lies a kingdom only a selected few could see

Search for us where the world falls.  
But know that nothing leaves or enters these walls

Those ripped away by the tides rage  
Heathens that will never return to this place

The lost world rests here  
Those who wish to awaken will know true fear

Upon the supreme moons rise  
Climb the tallest lighthouse

Speak the holy tongue to the black skies  
Know that the guardian accept no lies

Present to us proof of your allegiance  
And soon you will walk the path of brilliance

Come foolish humans. Realize where you’re really from  
All answers lie in this crystal kingdom

 

As Mark read through the poem over and over he only got more and more confused. This wasn’t the same song as what he had been sung long ago. It lacked words. “Well, figures. The lullaby has had to been fleshed out to be able to be sung” the important part was that this was the essence of what he had heard in that lullaby long ago. He didn’t know what importance this had to Jack but he did know that if he had borrowed a book featuring the crystal kingdom this poem was as good a clue as any. Mark let a small smile play on his lips as he opened the silver adorned book. He was getting somewhere. Now to actually read the damn book.

The whole “read the damn book” business proved to be more difficult than Mark had imagined. It wasn’t written in Old speech but it sure wasn’t a light read. It wasn’t just a complete coverage of the crystal kingdom legend. It was a complete coverage of all legends of Eilith, which ,needless to say, was a lot. After having read the same sentence over and over again for what felt like the hundredth time Mark just face planted on the damn bastard piece of literature. How dare it do this to him? He who had worked so hard to get this far.. an itchy feeling made its way up his veins and got the consequence that he in a poor attempt not to throw the book over the edge of the balcony instead pushed it off the table, sending a cloud of evil dust his way and revealing another book.

This book was featuring a strange almost fish shaped machine with headlights venturing through a black algae forest. Mark couldn’t quite make out if the strange vehicle housed a human but he nevertheless assumed that it was a submarine. So.. either Jack had a thing for fishes or he wanted to go underwater. This was quite an important discovery. If the Highborne wanted to go under, Mark gestured downwards absentmindedly, then it had to mean that the legend he searched, he assumed that was the crazy thing Jack was doing, had to be down there too. That left only a couple of them and assuming Jack wasn’t searching for “the lost civilisation of the sea wolves” or “the goddess island” it could only be one. Heartbeat reaching dangerous rates Mark opened the book on the chapter reading “the legend of the crystal kingdom and the ultimate destruction of humanity” this was it.


End file.
